PKL commissioner Anupam Goswami hints at format changes for season 12, Melbourne Raid’s return

Following a positive reception during its inaugural event, the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) is planning to host another edition of the Melbourne Raid in October–November.

“We will most probably be repeating the Melbourne Raid initiative this year, too, especially when India’s cricket team plays the T20 series against Australia. It’s going to be a difficult one, but (there) is a strong intention, and we will do it,” PKL commissioner Anupam Goswami told Sportstar on the sidelines of the league auction on Sunday.

The Indian cricket team is set to tour Australia for a five-match T20I series starting on November 29, with the final match scheduled to take place at The Gabba in Brisbane on December 8. PKL organisers hope to leverage this window to generate increased interest in the exhibition event.

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Goswami also indicated that the Melbourne Raid programme is one of several initiatives planned to help grow the game globally.

“There is a very strong appetite for kabaddi in West Asia. We know that the 2026 Asian Games will be in Nagoya, Japan. But, in 2030 and 2034, they will be in West Asia (Qatar and Saudi Arabia), and we should push for the rise of kabaddi as a medal discipline in the Asian Games. That will be a very logical and a more practical move for us to grab,” he said, adding that the initiatives in Australia are also crucial, leading up to the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane.

Now in its 11th year, the PKL has garnered significant attention from the sporting fraternity. Goswami clarified that there are no immediate plans for expansion over the next three to four years, with the primary focus being on discovering new ways to grow viewership and enhance the league’s competitiveness.

While there have been murmurs about the upcoming edition of the PKL being held at a single venue, Goswami stated that the league’s management will consult with teams and stakeholders to finalise the schedule and format for the 12th edition of the tournament.

“We will look for a format which revs up fan interest in a very big way. After a point, our current format kind of gets flat and the viewership drops after the third or the fourth game and then again rises during the playoffs, but we need to see how to induce competition and excitement in the middle stages,” Goswami said.

“We need to see how to make the playoffs more relevant. We have a few interesting ideas. We need to figure out the intermediary stages we can have to hold some relevance, and how to make the league better. So, we are looking at all those models…”