Pro Kabaddi teams announce names of retained players; Pardeep Narwal released by Patna Pirates

Pro Kabaddi (PKL) teams have come out with their list of retained players ahead of the eighth season of the tournament. A total of 59 players were retained across all three categories with 22 in the Elite Retained Players (ERP), six in the Retained Young Players (RYP), and 31 in the New Young Players (NYP) category as teams begin assembling their squads for the upcoming season slated to take place in December. The non-retained players including all squad players from PKL seasons six and seven will go under the hammer at the auctions in Mumbai from 29 to 31 August. Defending champions Bengal Warriors have retained their captain Maninder Singh along with one of the main heroes of the PKL 7 final – Mohammed Esmaeil Nabibaksh. Top points scorer of PKL 7 Pawan Kumar Sehrawat has been retained by Bengaluru Bulls for a second consecutive season. The MVP of PKL 7, Naveen Kumar, has been retained by Dabang Delhi KC under the ‘Retained Young Players’ category. Experienced players like Fazel Atrachali (U Mumba), Parvesh Bhainswal and Sunil Kumar (Gujarat Giants), Vikash Khandola (Haryana Steelers), and Nitesh Kumar (UP Yoddha) have been retained by their respective teams. Patna Pirates have not retained their star raider Pardeep Narwal so he’ll be the one to watch out for in the auctions. Other include Deepak Hooda, Rahul Chaudhari, Siddharth Desai, and Rohit Kumar will also be part of the player pool for the upcoming player auction. Anupam Goswami, League Commissioner  and CEO of Mashal Sports said, “Preserving the spirit of squad continuity and team dynamics, the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League has maintained its Player Retention Policy, benefitting players and teams alike. The excitement among viewers and fans this year is palpable, and we are confident of delivering a stellar Season 8 of the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League!” Here’s the full list of retained players: Bengal Warriors Elite Retained Players: Maninder Singh - Raider Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh - All Rounder Rinku Narwal - Defender Retained Young Players Ravindra Ramesh Kumawat - Raider Bengaluru Bulls Elite Retained Players Pawan Kumar Sehrawat - Raider Amit Sheoran - Defender Existing New Young Players Saurabh Nandal - Defender Banty - Raider Mohit Sehrawat - Defender Dabang Delhi KC Elite Retained Players Vijay - All Rounder Neeraj Narwal - Raider Retained Young Players Naveen Kumar - Raider Existing New Young Players Balram - All Rounder Sumit - Defender Mohit - Defender Gujarat Giants Elite Retained Players Parvesh Bhainswal - Defender Sunil Kumar - Defender Existing New Young Players Harmanjeet Singh - Raider Sumit - Defender Ankit - Defender Haryana Steelers Elite Retained Players Vikash Kandola - Raider Existing New Young Players Vinay - Raider Vikas Chillar - Raider Chand Singh - Defender Jaipur Pink Panthers Elite Retained Players Amit Hooda - Defender Vishal - Defender Retained Young Players Nitin Rawal - All Rounder Existing New Young Players Sachin Narwal - All-rounder Pavan TR - Defender Sushil Gulia - Raider Elavarasan A - Defender Patna Pirates Elite Retained Players Neeraj Kumar - Defender Monu - Raider Existing New Young Players Sahil Mann - All Rounder Rajveersinh Pratap Rao Chavan - Raider Mohit - Raider Puneri Paltan  Elite Retained Players Balasaheb Shahaji Jadhav - Defender Pawan Kumar Kadian - Raider Hadi Tajik - Defender Existing New Young Players Sanket Sawant - Defender Pankaj Mohite - Raider Tamil Thalaivas  Existing New Young Players Sagar - Defender Himanshu - Defender M Abishek - Defender Telugu Titans Elite Retained Players Rakesh Gowda - Raider Retained Young Players Ankit Beniwal - Raider Rajnish - Raider Existing New Young Players Manish - Defender Akash Choudhary - Defender Akash Dattu Arsul - Defender U Mumba  Elite Retained Players Abhishek Singh - Raider Ajinkya Rohidas Kapre - All Rounder Harendra Kumar - Defender Fazel Atrachali - Defender Existing New Young Players Navneet - Raider UP Yoddha Retained Young Players Nitesh Kumar - Defender Existing New Young Players Sumit - Defender Ashu Singh - Defender Surinder Gill - Raider Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar are the official broadcaster and OTT partner of PKL..