Jasveer, Malik and Sehrawat: how the PKL 13 coaching map has redrawn itself

Three of Pro Kabaddi League’s most closely watched dugouts changed hands between PKL 12 and the wait for season 13. Patna Pirates, UP Yoddhas and Gujarat Giants have all brought in new head coaches across a four-month stretch, and the way those three appointments slot together is starting to look like the most interesting story of the offseason.

Jasveer Singh, from UP to Patna

The biggest move of the lot came in late November, when Patna Pirates confirmed Jasveer Singh as their new head coach. Singh had spent seven seasons in charge of UP Yoddhas, taking them to the playoffs in five of those years and earning a reputation as one of the most disciplined defensive coaches in the league. He resigned at the end of season 12 after a campaign that did not match the squad on paper, and Patna moved quickly.

“I am happy to join the most successful team in the league. There is no doubt about what the Patna Pirates can achieve,” Singh said on taking charge. “I have reached playoffs in almost all seasons but the trophy is still pending. It feels correct and very much a part of destiny that my first and Pirates’ fourth trophy come together.”

The build-up to Singh’s hire was busy. Anup Kumar, brought in before PKL 12 to replace Narender Redhu, left mid-season with the Pirates struggling, and Randeep Dalal took over. Dalal’s side won their way into the top eight and kept going: the run reached eight straight wins with Eliminator 2 against Bengaluru Bulls before Telugu Titans ended it in Eliminator 3. Patna released Dalal in November anyway, and Jasveer Singh is the coach they went out and got instead. Patna remain the most decorated franchise in the competition with three titles, all won consecutively from PKL 3 to PKL 5, and the front office want a coach who can build the next group of raiders into a fourth.

UP Yoddhas promote from within

UP Yoddhas filled the seat Singh left in early December, announcing assistant coach Upendra Malik as the new head coach for PKL 13. Malik joined the staff in 2023 and worked under Singh for three seasons, which means the Yoddhas have prioritised continuity over the more obvious option of bringing in an outside name with title experience.

The context matters. UP finished ninth in PKL 12, one place outside the top eight, for their second playoff miss in three seasons, and the franchise’s promo for the appointment leaned into the idea that the system, not the personnel, was what needed retuning. That logic is hard to argue with: the squad that underdelivered last season is largely intact, and Malik knows the players, the systems and the bench rotations as well as anyone in the building.

Gujarat Giants pick the “Chanakya”

The most recent of the three moves came in March, when Adani Sportsline confirmed that Randhir Singh Sehrawat would lead Gujarat Giants into PKL 13. Sehrawat is one of the longest-serving names in the league, having coached Bengaluru Bulls from the very first PKL season in 2014 through to season 11, and sat out season 12. He guided the Bulls to their lone PKL title in season 6 (the final was played in January 2019), where Pawan Sehrawat’s 22-point raid display sealed a 38-33 final win over Gujarat themselves; six playoff appearances, an Arjuna Award and the nickname “Chanakya of Kabaddi” came with the rest of the journey.

For the Giants, the hire is about ceiling. Gujarat reached the final in their first two seasons, PKL 5 in 2017 and PKL 6, and lost both; they have not been back to one since. The franchise’s pattern has been to assemble talented squads that struggle to peak in the playoffs, and Sehrawat’s CV is stacked with the one thing the dugout has been missing: deep-stage experience, including a final win over Gujarat themselves.

Why it adds up to a redrawn map

Read together, the three changes look like an unusually concentrated reshuffle of mid-table strategic thinking. Patna are betting on the structure Singh built at UP. UP are betting that what they had was not Singh-shaped, just unfinished. Gujarat are betting that a coach who built a champion side at Bengaluru can do it again with a different roster.

None of those bets is obviously wrong, and they cannot all be right. Five months on, PKL 13 still has no announced dates. The auction was pushed back behind the Asian Games and is now reported for 18 to 25 October, with the season itself expected around December, though Mashal Sports has confirmed none of it. Either way, the coaching staff at three of its more interesting franchises now look very different from how they ended PKL 12. The auction and squad reveals will fill in the rest of the picture, but the dugouts have already given the season its first storyline.

More from our kabaddi coverage