- By Namrata Vijay
- Sat, 30 Aug 2025 10:15 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
PKL 2025: India's star teenager Vaibhav Suryavanshi reconnected with his Kabaddi roots as he watched the tournament opener in Vizag on Friday. The young RR batter, who grabbed everyone's attention during IPL 2025, attended the inauguration ceremony of the 12th season of the PKL along with some other legendary sportspersons.
A lot of legendary sportspersons like Pullela Gopichand, ex-India hockey skipper Dhanraj Pillay, Pardeep Narwal, and Suryavanshi had attended the opening ceremony. Suryavanshi's presence, who took the bowlers to the cleaners during his IPL season, was one of the highlights of PKL's cross-sport approach.
During an interaction, Suryavanshi reckoned that Kabaddi has always been a part of his career and said, “I have been playing kabaddi since I was around five or six years old, so it felt really good returning to the mat and to watch a match live for the first time. While I have enjoyed kabaddi and table tennis, cricket has always been my first love. In PKL, I support Patna Pirates because it’s my home team, and I also admire the Bengaluru Bulls for Pawan Sehrawat, the Hi-Flyer.
Watch the video here:
When cricket's next-gen met the Warriorz
— ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) August 29, 2025
Vaibhav Suryavanshi played cricket & witnessed the Pangebaazi up close ahead of the #PKL12 Grand Opening #ProKabaddi #GhusKarMaarenge @rajasthanroyals pic.twitter.com/gTtQT0K1qs
Action-packed opening night
Season 12 began with the Southern Derby. Tamil Thalaivas had defeated Telugu Titans by 38-35 during a nail-biting thriller. Arjun Deswal had scored a Super 10, whereas Pawan Sehrawat scored nine points, and they made sure that they didn't let the host win, as Bharat Hooda's efforts went in vain.
The second match became quite dramatic, where Bengaluru Bulls and Puneri Paltan tried to create history in this tournament. The match ended in a tie, and this led to the season's first-ever tie-breaker during the group stages. The reigning champions Puneri Paltan won the decider by 6-4 and thus achieved a new milestone.