Mumbai, Sep 9 (IANS): Pro Kabaddi League Season 11 will kick off with a showdown between the Telugu Titans and Bengaluru Bulls in the opening match in Hyderabad on October 18, Mashal Sports, the organisers of the league, announced on Monday. The game will feature the home side Telugu Titans and their star raider Pawan Sehrawat against Pardeep Narwal, making his return for the Bengaluru Bulls.

The second match of the night will see U Mumba’s Sunil Kumar – the most expensive Indian defender in PKL history after being bought for Rs 1.015 crore – take on the attacking prowess of Naveen Kumar, who is among the star raiders for Dabang Delhi K.C.

This time around, PKL will be returning to a three-city format, with the 2024 edition commencing at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad from October 18 to November 9. It will then move to the Noida Indoor Stadium for the second leg starting on November 10 till December 1. The third leg will begin at the Balewadi Badminton Stadium in Pune from December 3 to 24. The schedule and venue for the playoffs will be announced at a later date.

Speaking on the?schedule?of PKL season 11, Anupam Goswami, Head of Sports Leagues at Mashal Sports and?League?Commissioner of the?Pro?Kabaddi?League,?said, “The match schedule of each PKL Season is a tremendously deliberated and painstaking effort to create and drive competitive relevance and engagement for the millions of kabaddi fans rooting for their respective Teams as well as the League overall. We are sure that the PKL XI match schedule too will start firing the passion and expectations of our fans, and also guide our twelve Teams for their respective strategies and plans for PKL XI”.

The PKL season 11 auction took place in Mumbai on August 15-16, setting a new record in the league's history with eight players being sold for over Rs 1 crore. The PKL season 11 will be broadcast live on the Star Sports Network and streamed on Disney+ Hotstar.