Nearly a year on from PKL 12, the season’s best starting 7 still tells the story
With PKL 13 still undated, Khel Now’s best starting seven of Season 12, led by Ayan Lohchab, Devank Dalal, Navdeep and MVP Fazel Atrachali, is still the best read of where Pro Kabaddi stands.
Apr 17, 2026 · Updated Oct 20, 2026
Pro Kabaddi Season 13 still has no confirmed start date, nearly a year after the last one ended. The mat is dark, the franchises have spent the off-season on coaching changes and young-player signings, and the only version of the league anyone can talk about is PKL 12. When Khel Now published its Best Starting 7 on 1 November 2025, a day after Dabang Delhi beat Puneri Paltan 31-28 in the final at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium in Delhi, the seven names on it looked like the cleanest honest read of the season. They still do.
The raiders: a record-breaker, a captain and a playoff hero
Ayan Lohchab of Patna Pirates was the runaway performer of PKL 12. He finished with 316 raid points from 22 matches, with 16 Super 10s and nine Super Raids, and won Best Raider of the Season. Along the way he became only the fifth player in PKL history to reach 300 raid points in a season, and he did it in his second season. Khel Now put him at right-in, and there was no argument about it.
At centre was Devank Dalal, the Bengal Warriorz captain who was a one-man attack for long stretches of the season. He became the fastest player in PKL history to 50 raid points in a season, and his 25 points against Gujarat Giants made him the first player to score 20 or more in three matches in a row. He finished on 271 raid points from 16 matches. Bharat Hooda of Telugu Titans rounded out the raid unit at left-in, with 230 raid points and a playoff run that peaked with 23 points in the 46-39 Eliminator 3 win over Patna Pirates, followed by another Super 10 in Qualifier 2, which Puneri won 50-45.
The defence: Patna’s iron, Dabang’s Sultan, and a title in the corners
Navdeep, also of Patna Pirates, won Best Defender of the Season. He played the right-corner spot, finished with 73 tackle points in 21 matches, and became the first player in PKL history to take four High 5s in a row in the knockouts. Alongside him at left-corner in Khel Now’s seven is Fazel Atrachali, the Dabang Delhi defender who was named the season’s Most Valuable Player with 52 tackle points. His tackle on Aditya Shinde in the closing seconds of the final sealed the title.
The cover positions went to Sunil Kumar of U Mumba at right-cover, with 52 points, and Jaideep Dahiya of Haryana Steelers at left-cover, with 68. Neither of their teams got past the play-in stage.
Why this seven still matters
Look at the franchise spread and the story sharpens. Patna Pirates put two players in a best seven although they never reached the final. Dabang Delhi, who won it, got one. Puneri Paltan, the runners-up, got none. Joginder Narwal, the Dabang Delhi head coach who captained the franchise to the Season 8 title, joined Manpreet Singh as only the second man to win the PKL as both player and coach. Ashu Malik, not in the Khel Now seven but the Dabang captain in the final, lifted his first trophy as a skipper.
The Season 13 auction has not been formally announced either. Reports have put it in late October, after the Asian Games in Japan in September and the Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship, with the season itself expected around December, but none of that is official. Until the league names a date, the seven players above are where the story sits. The auction, whenever it comes, will reshuffle plenty of it, and how franchises choose to build around these seven, or move past them, is the Pro Kabaddi story to follow into 2027.