Pro Kabaddi League: Pardeep Narwal may have retired, but his legacy in PKL will remain
There is a thin line between acclaim and adoration, between fandom and devotion. If there is one player in Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) history that crossed that line, it’s Pardeep Narwal.
Going unsold in the player auction was the final nail in the coffin as Narwal – labelled the Record Breaker for his outstanding feats as a raider – announced his retirement.
For all his contributions to the sport, his future, in the end, was well beyond his control, for he admitted surprise at going unsold at the recent auctions. “I did feel that I could play more, if not for me, then for the fans,” he admitted.
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His attention, though, is on what comes next.
“I am opening my academy in two days. This is my way of staying in touch with the sport and also possibly creating careers for the next generations,” he said.
Narwal, who is as iconic as he is laconic, summed up his decorated career and its impact on him in the simplest of terms. “I got the money. I got fame. My family is doing well.”
Perhaps fittingly, the prose on Narwal’s legacy comes best from those who had to train him or prepare to face him.
“Even today, when we do video sessions, we play Pardeep’s videos to train the next line of talent coming through. There are times when the defence would completely catch Pardeep but he finds a way and wriggles out,” two-time PKL-winning coach B.C. Ramesh – who coaches Bengaluru Bulls exclaimed.
“It is very difficult for a player like this to be developed. God gave kabaddi a player like this, with the name of Pardeep Narwal,” he added.
In hindsight, the writing was on the wall, as the once feared raider struggled to break into the league’s top five raiders for raid points over the last four years. Despite that fizzle, the 28-year-old leaves as the most prolific raider in PKL history, having scored 1,801 raid points at an average of 9.47 per match.
His records? Innumerable. His famed ‘ dubki’ (wriggling out from under a defensive chain)? Stunning even if unconventional. His legacy? Unmatched.
Published on Aug 29, 2025