PKL 12: Head Coaches and Assistant Coaches of Pro Kabaddi League Season 12
The Pro Kabaddi League Season 12 Auction will take place in Mumbai on 31st May and 1st June 2025, where best of the players would be picked by distinct franchise based on purse amount left in their kitty.
Dabang Delhi have highest amount while UP Yoddhas have the lowest amount in the auction it would be interesting to see how they will fare in the Upcoming Marquee event.
Coaches do play an important role in deciding the strength and weakness of any squad, the onus will be on them along with concern stakeholders to make squad balanced in all three domain- Raiding, Defence and All Rounder where they have players to step up in the crunch phase of the game.
Here in this article we will dive deep into all the coaches name announced by 12 franchise with their counterpart to be shared in the below format:
1. Narender Redhu (Jaipur Pink Panthers Head Coach)
2. Vinod Kumar(Jaipur Pink Panthers Assistant Head Coach)
3. Krishan Kumar Hooda(Telugu Titans Head Coach)
4. Ramesh Kumar(Telugu Titans Assistant Head Coach)
5. Anup Kumar(Patna Pirates Head Coach)
6. Prashant Kumar Rai(Patna Pirates Assistant Head Coach)
7. Manpreet Singh(Haryana Steelers Head Coach)
8. Neer Gulia(Haryana Steelers Assistant Head Coach)
9. Ajay Thakur(Puneri Paltan Head Coach)
10. Ashok Shinde(Puneri Paltan Assistant Head Coach)
11. BC Ramesh(Bengaluru Bulls Head Coach)
12. Jeeva Kumar(Bengaluru Bulls Assistant Head Coach)
13. Joginer Narwal(Dabang Delhi Head Coach)
14. Naresh Kumar(Dabang Delhi Assistant Head Coach)
15. Anil Chaprana(U Mumba Head Coach)
16. Parthiban M (U Mumba Assistant Head Coach)
17. Naveen Kumar(Bengal Warriors Head Coach)
18. Parveen Malik(Bengal Warriors Assistant Head Coach)
19. Sanjeev Baliyan(Tamil Thaliavas Head Coach)
20. D Suresh Kumar(Tamil Thaliavas Assistant Head Coach)
21. Jasveer Singh(Up Yoddhas Head Coach)
22. Upendra Malik(Up Yoddhas Assistant Head Coach)
23. Jaivir Sharma(Gujarat Giants Head Coach)
24. Varinder Singh(Gujarat Giants Assistant Head Coach)
Let’s Talk about all these Coaches in Detail
- Jaipur Pink Panthers:
Jaipur Pink Panthers are one of the most decorated franchise of PKL and their coach for the Upcoming editions will be Narender Redhu and Vinod Kumar.
Narender Redhu is certainly one of the most smart coaches in PKL, he successfully led Patna Pirates in PKL 10 Playoffs followed by another season where Patna Played Final against Haryana Steelers and emerged as runner up under his tactical guidance.
The best part about his coaching is his ability to dissect every player strength and weakness in his squad and making sure that they play as a unit which played an important role in Patna Pirates success in last edition.
He will be expected to do wonders for Panthers in the Upcoming edition.
Vinod Kumar being his assistant coach will complement Redhu in his coaching style and insights which could prove brilliant for Panthers in the long run.
2. Dabang Delhi KC: Dabang Delhi last year showed huge glimpses but somehow their ability to rely to much on Ashu Malik backfired them as player can’t perform in all the matches you need support from other end.
Joginder Narwal who became Dabang Delhi KC Head Coach last year would be eagerly looking to correct all those past mistakes and develop solid team in auction with humungous purse value.
They have released players like- Ashu Malik and Naveen Kumar who have been absolute giants for them.
It would be interesting to see what combination they will go for in Upcoming auction.
Joginder Narwal have successfully led franchise towards winning PKL 8 title as captain he certainly imbibes the winning mindset which will hold key for them in Upcoming PKL auction and main event.
Naresh Kumar as assistant coach will bring more depth in tactical brilliance.
3. U Mumba:
U Mumba teams which looks good on paper somehow failed to execute themselves in the crunch moments of the game.
U Mumba have made changes in their coaching staff where last year Head Coach Gholamreza Mazardani have been replaced with Anil Chaprana as their new head coach.
He was U Mumba’s Assistant coach for last season playing an important role in ensuring Mumba reach Playoffs after 2019.
He will be back again as Coach and expectations will be quite high from him as he understand the squad pretty well.
Parthiban M as assistant coach will hold key in extending his point of view in strategic developments, team building and many more.
4. Patna Pirates:
Patna Pirates are certainly touted as one of the most successful teams in PKL having won 3 trophies under their radar and deserve credit for maintaining the same grit and consistency over the years.
Considering their last year performance where many people wrote them off, they played like a champion as young team and emerged as runner up of the tournament.
Under Anup Kumar, new coach they will become invincible as the man guiding them is regarded as one of the greatest players ever to play this sport.
He has been associated as coach in distinct PKL franchise in the past, his experience would certainly come in handy when these players will step on to mat in PKL 12.
Anup Kumar is also touted as one of the most successful captains for India ever where he successfully guided Men in Blue towards 2010 and 2014 Asian Games and 2016 Kabaddi World Cup.
His motivation and achievements will inspire other players in the squad to do wonders in the Upcoming Marquee event.
He will be complemented by Prashant Kumar Rai as Assistant Coach who will play perfect second fiddle for Anup especially when it comes to Analytical approach of the game.
5. Bengal Warriorz:
Bengal Warriorz are the team that needs to lot of pondering as they always look good on paper but somehow they failed to achieve result as a unit.
They need to build squad in such a way where all possible combinations in all three domain- Raiding, Defence and All Rounder is taken care off.
They have appointed Former India International Naveen Kumar as New Head Coach for next edition, He has coached for SAI teams and Indian teams where they have done wonders for them.
Parveen Malik as an assistant Coach will complement them, brilliantly in all aspects of the game .
6. Haryana Steelers:
Haryana Steelers who won last year PKL, were certainly one of the best teams of last edition and they deserve credit for the brilliant ecosystem.
They have some of the best coaches in PKL, with Manpreet Singh being the most animated and successful, who never shy away when expressing his raw emotions on the mat as well in front of media.
He is certainly regarded as one of the best PKL coaches ever with his brilliant winning track record.
After taking over as Haryana Steelers Head Coach he has transformed them into absolute beast.
Neer Gulia will be serving as an assistant coach to him as he would be giving his valuable inputs to him.
7. Tamil Thaliavas:
Tamil Thaliavas have failed to replicate the same consistency in the long run, as they need to ensure that they have players who can deliver consistent franchise for the side.
Sanjeev Baliyan will be their head coach a brilliant player of his time often regarded as one of the legends of the game, brilliant coach for sure where he successfully guided Jaipur Pink Panthers to numerous heights.
Sanjeev Baliyan is a man of few words he hardly show his emotions and let his players do the talking with their amazing performances on the mat.
Baliyan will be complemented by D Suresh Kumar from the other end as assistant coach where he would share his insights about the game.
8. Puneri Paltan:
Puneri Paltan are touted as one of the best teams in PKL with several star players in their arsenal including the likes of- Aslam Inamdar, Pankaj Mohite and Mohit Goyat they can collectively do wonders for the franchise.
Paltan has undergone a coaching change, where Ajay Thakur being one of the most successful players in Kabaddi will helm Coaching responsibility.
For his brilliant contribution in Kabaddi he has been awarded with Arjuna Award and Padma Shri Award respectively.
He has been member of Indian team which lifted gold medal in 2010 and 2014 Asian Games and 2016 Kabaddi World Cup in Ahmedabad.
Ashok Shinde as Assistant Coach will bring several transformational changes in the team.
9. Bengaluru Bulls:
Bengaluru Bulls have undergoing coaching change for the first time ever in PKL career as their old coach Randhir Sehrawat known as one of the best Kabaddi Coaches have resigned from his post.
After his departure, Puneri Paltan Most successful coach BC Ramesh who successfully guided franchise towards winning PKL 10 title will take charge.
His brilliant tactical ability and sharp acumen will take Bengaluru Bulls further in this tournament.
He will be complemented by Jeeva Kumar as assistant coach who will help him in his brilliant tactical decision making.
10. UP Yoddhas:
Up Yoddhas as team always show glimpses whenever tournament start but they failed to replicate the same consistency going further.
They have retained most of their players with limited purse amount in Upcoming auction would mean that small twisting will take place in their squad.
Coach Jasveer Singh with his brilliant tactical mind along with Upendra Malik as an assistant coach will be expected to do wonders for their franchise.
11. Gujarat Giants:
The Biggest problem for Gujarat Giants have been their inability to replicate their game play and consistency during prolong period of time.
Gujarat Giants as team will always do good in first few matches but later they fail big time when it comes to execution.
Gujarat Giants in past few seasons have been coached by Ram Mehar Singh where they have shown glimpses in few games as a unit they failed to assemble themselves.
They have undergone new coaching regime including the likes of- Jaivir Sharma and Varinder Singh as Head and Assistant Coach respectively where these two combined have more than 30 years of experience in Coaching will be held Key for transforming the thought process of this current Gujarat Titans squad.
12. Telugu Titans:
Last on the list in terms of franchise is none other than Telugu Titans a team which enjoys massive fan following on Andra shores and they would certainly be expected to carry forward last edition momentum and win Upcoming event.
They have release their two big players including- Pawan Sehrawat and Vijay Malik with amount left in their kitty it would be interesting to see how they will fare in the Upcoming event.
Coach Krishan kumar Hooda who successfully guided Delhi towards winning their PKL title will be key for them.
Ramesh Kumar as assistant Coach will hold Key for them.
You can watch all the updates related to PKL 12 auction live on Kabaddi Adda official Social handle
