More than 350 players have been listed for the ProKabaddi Season 5 auction at New Delhi on May 22nd and 23rd.
The promoters have trained 131 freshers through a grass-roots development programme. The league is set to start in July.
Except for Jaipur Pink Panthers, which won the inaugural league in 2014, the other seven franchises have retained an elite player.
They are Jang Kun Lee (Bengal Warriors), Ashish Kumar (Bengaluru Bulls), Meraj Sheykh (Dabang Delhi K.C), Pradeep Narwal (Patna Pirates), Deepak Hooda (Puneri Paltan), Rahul Chaudhari (Telugu Titans) and Anup Kumar (U Mumba).
The four new teams are from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. India and U Mumba captain Anup Kumar said: “Vivo ProKabaddi Season 5 is going to be bigger and better in terms of four new teams, more matches, longer duration and endless action on the mat.”