PKL 2025: Pardeep ‘Dubki King” Narwal retires after going unsold in Pro Kabaddi League auction
PKL legend calls it quits after auction snub
The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) has experienced a rapid rise in recent years, with the game expanding beyond India’s borders, as illustrated by the Kabaddi World Cup being hosted in England for the first time ever in March this year.
The PKL Season 12 auction took place in Mumbai on May 31 and June 1, with a staggering 529 players from several countries, including India, Iran, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the UK, among others, being put up for sale. The upcoming campaign is also expected to be the most widely covered by the best betting sites in India ever.
Ultimately, only 121 players at the auction were sold, leaving over 400 individuals without a franchise for the upcoming season, and that included legendary raider Pardeep Narwal, who has been a part of the league for 10 years.
After going unpicked, the 28-year-old stunned kabaddi fans by announcing his retirement from the league via a live video with popular Indian sports broadcaster Sunil Tanjena. He also acknowledged that his performances in recent years were not up to the mark based on his own lofty standards. He said:
"Honestly, I didn't feel much at that moment. I was like, Okay, maybe someone will definitely bid. When I played for Patna earlier, I used to score 200-300 points. Now, even 111 or 122 doesn’t feel enough. I want to score 15-16 points per match, not just three or four.”
Narwhal’s incredible achievements in the PKL earned him the nickname “Dubki King,” and during his tenure, he racked up a stunning tally of 1,801 raid points and still holds the record for the most raid points in a single season - 369 for Patna Pirates back in Season 5.
Narwal’s plans for life after Pro Kabaddi League
After confirming his retirement, Narwal revealed that his focus from here on will be to make the transition into coaching, reaffirming his choice to call time on his playing career, while also stating that his fans should accept his decision.
Dubki King spent five seasons with the Patna Pirates and led the franchise to three PKL titles. He was also the first player to be awarded Top Raider twice before moving to UP Yoddas for a staggering ₹1.65 crore in Season 8.
In the 2021 and 2022 campaigns, Narwal posted 188 and 220 points for the Uttar Pradesh outfit, helping them to back-to-back semi-finals. However, he only managed 111 raid points in Season 11 while playing for the Bengaluru Bulls.
Narwal was a key member of the Indian national kabaddi team that won the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup and 2017 Asian Kabaddi Championship, cementing his place in the history books as one of the greatest of all time.
