PKL 12: Ashu Malik retained as Dabang Delhi captain for Pro Kabaddi 2025

Ashu Malik scored 262 raid points last season.

Pro Kabaddi League 12 (PKL 12) is all set to ignite the excitement among the Kabaddi enthusiasts once again as it takes off on the last Friday of the month, August 29, 2025. 

Ahead of the upcoming season, Dabang Delhi have appointed Ashu Malik as their captain for the 12th edition of the league. The franchise announced this news via a social media post on Wednesday, August 20.

The Haryana-born Raider will become the seventh player to lead Dabang Delhi full-time. He will be the third raider after Kashling Adake and Naveen to wear the captaincy arm band.

Also Read: PKL 12: Dabang Delhi’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats for Pro Kabaddi 2025

Dabang Delhi used FBM to retain him

This is a widely expected move as Ashu Malik was retained for two seasons for Rs 1.90 crore using the final bid match option. The move to bring him back into the squad ahead of their previous captain, Naveen Kumar, highlights the trust placed in the 23-year-old.

The only other captaincy candidate in the squad was ‘Sultan’ Fazel Atrachali. But Joginder Narwal and the management have shown faith in Ashu, who has been performing brilliantly for the season eight champions for the last three years.

Also Read: PKL 12: What will be Dabang Delhi’s starting 7 in Pro Kabaddi 2025?

Ashu made his PKL debut for Delhi in Season 9

Ashu played a small but crucial role in Delhi’s title win in season eight. He was retained for the next season, and he improved his performance, scoring 158 points, almost 100 points more than in his previous season.

Season 10 was the turning point of his career as an injury to Naveen Express forced Ashu to take the responsibility of the lead raider. He accepted the challenge well, scored 276 points, including 15 Super 10s, and was awarded the Best Raider award.

He showed his constituency in season 11 with another 250+ points, another season that was marred by Naveen’s injury. His ability to face challenges is what made him the captain. The 23-year-old will love to repeat the heroics of his debut season.

Dabang Delhi’s predicted starting seven for PKL 12:

Raiders: Ashu Malik, Neeraj Narwal, Ajinkya Pawar.

Defenders: Fazel Atrachali, Sandeep Deswal, Gaurav Chillar, Amir Hossein Bastami.

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