If the last weekend, you enjoyed watching the sports we all have grown up playing, you must know that
There are a total of eight franchises and the teams have players not only from India, but also from other parts of the world, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Iran, Japan, the UK, Indonesia, South Korea, Oman, Taiwan, Kenya and Turkmenistan.
The teams:
Bengal Warriors, Kolkata
This team is owned by Future Group, and is coached by Raj Narain Sharma.
Bengaluru Bulls, Bengaluru
This team is owned by Kosmik Global Media, and is coached by Randhir Singh.
Dabang Delhi, Delhi
This team is owned by Do It Sports Management, and is coached by Arjun Singh.
Jaipur Pink Panthers, Jaipur
This team is owned by Abhishek Bachchan, and is coached by Kasinathan Bhaskaran.
Patna Pirates, Patna
This team is owned by Rajesh Singh, and is coached by RS Khokhar.
Puneri Paltan, Pune
This team is owned by Insurekot Sports, and is coached by Ramphal Kaushik.
Telugu Titans, Vizag
This team is owned by Veera Sports, and is coached by J Udayakumar.
U Mumba, Mumbai
This team is owned by Unilazer Sports, and is coached by Ravi Shetty.
The costliest player at the auction was Rakesh Kumar, gold medallist from the 2007 World Cup. Patna Pirates bought him for Rs 12,80,000.
The winning team would be awarded the prize money of Rs 50 lakh, with Rs 25 lakh for the runner-up team and Rs 12.5 lakh for both the semi-finalists.
Other than this, the best raider, defender, the best catcher will be given Rs 10,000 each in every match.
Talking of big bucks, the organiser, Mashal Sports, will keep 80% of the revenue coming from all the eight franchises. World Sport Group, which is the marketing partner, will receive 10% of it and the remaining 10% will be put across for the league.
One interesting trivia of this league is that every team has at least one player who is more than six feet in height. In total, there are 16 players who are taller than six feet.
The schedule of the upcoming matches can be found here. There will be a total of 60 matches at eight venues, out of which the semis would be held at Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on August 29th.
Image courtesy: Indian Television