Anand Mahindra, Abhishek Bachchan grieve as PKL backer & Indian kabaddi doyen passes away

The Indian kabaddi fraternity was in for a huge shock on Wednesday following the demise of former international kabaddi player of India and the Indian Olympic Association Vice President Janardan Singh Gehlot. Twitter was flooded with condolence messages from many kabaddi players as well as the PKL teams following the news of his demise. Gehlot was a former minister in the Congress cabinet and was also the founder President of the International Kabaddi Federation. 

PKL 2021: U Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers tweet condolence message

Media mogul Ronnie Screwwala's team U Mumba and the Abhishek Bachchan-owned Jaipur Pink Panthers took to Twitter to offer their condolences following the demise of Gehlot. 

Apart from PKL teams, former Indian kabaddi captain Ajay Thakur and Anup Kumar also paid their respects. Kumar, in his Instagram post, credited Gehlot for introducing kabaddi to the world.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra also offered his condolences and in an official statement said that may his soul Rest in Peace and pray to God to give enough strength to his family to overcome this tragic loss. 

Star India to remain PKL broadcasters 

In a recent update related to broadcasting rights for the Anand Mahindra-backed PKL, Star India has retained media rights to broadcast the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) for five more years by bidding to pay over INR 180 crore annually. It has also been reported that Star India, which also owns a 74% stake in PKL 2021 organiser Mashal Sports, emerged as the only eligible bidder for the rights. Other media companies either didn't participate in the auction or were not eligible to bid for the rights due to stiff conditions in the tender document.

Gehlot was said to be the key in agreeing for Star Sports being the PKL broadcasters when it was introduced back in 2014, although the tournament received a lot of opposition from the kabaddi fraternity. However, with prominent team owners such as Abhishek Bachchan and Ronnie Screwwala, Anand Mahindra's Mashal Sports received massive praise for the tournament being a perfect television product and helping India become a multi-sports nation through the league.

Image: Anup Kumar / Instagram