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Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Will introduction of four new teams bring tension for Jaipur, Mumbai and Patna franchise

Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Will introduction of four new teams bring tension for Jaipur, Mumbai and Patna franchise

Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5 is the biggest Kabaddi event in the world is about to kick-off in three-days time. The first match of the latest season of the league will be played between Telegu Titans and new entry Tamil Thalaivas following the opening ceremony on July 28. This season will be long time affair which will nearly end in three months as the season will witness the introduction of four new teams – Gujarat Fortunegiants, Tamil Thalaivas, Haryana Steelers and UP Yoddhas.  It will be interesting to watch that if any of the new will be able to make an impact in the league which mostly revolved around only three teams in the first four seasons.

The first four seasons of the league had been an absolute success, the league has helped the game to reach new heights very fast and becomes very popular among the country ever since its introduction.

The inaugural season of the league in 2014 was won by Jaipur Pink Panthers owned by renowned actor Abhishek Bachchan by beating U-Mumba in the finals. They also finished the league stage at the first place by winning 10 out of their 14 matches. Their head coach is Balwan Singh, and Coach of Indian National Kabaddi Team and Dronacharya awardee, Balwan Singh is the head coach of the JPP.

The second season kicked off with a match between the finalists of the last season and U-Mumba paid the lend of the last final in that. U-Mumba improved their form in the second season by finishing the league stage at the first place after winning 12 out their 14 league matches which they finished second in the last season. The runner-up of first season made sure that they did not repeat the mistake and won the title in the second season. While defending champions of the first season, JPP could not even qualify for the playoff in the second and third season.

U-Mumba again looked unassailable in the third season too as they reached the finals for the third time in the row but could defend their title against Patna Pirates. But Patna Pirates became the first team in the league to retain their title in the fourth season by beating the champion of the first season in the finals in 2016 season.

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Shubham Jain