List of teams with most appearances in PKL finals

One team has played in five finals in eleven seasons.

Pro Kabaddi League Season 11 (PKL) came to a grand conclusion, as the Haryana Steelers, who were by far the best team in this edition, deservingly clinched the title by comprehensively defeating the Patna Pirates 32-23 in the final. It was redemption for the Steelers, who had suffered a defeat to the Puneri Paltan in the final last time.

The PKL has seen a few teams struggling to find their footing in eleven seasons. They have occupied the lower half of the table more often than not. However, some others have cracked the code and reached the playoffs consistently. Some of them have entered the finals multiple times, thus separating themselves from the rest of the chasing group.

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On this note, let’s have a look at the teams that have played the most PKL finals- appearing three or more times. It is worth noting that five teams including Bengaluru Bulls, Gujarat Giants, Dabang Delhi, Puneri Paltan, and Haryana Steelers have played the finals twice each.

3. U Mumba (3 times)

U Mumba were the first team to dominate the league, reaching the finals in each of the first three editions. That they could win just one of them, doesn’t do justice to a team which had greats like Anup Kumar, Rakesh Kumar, Rishank Devadiga, Mohit Chhillar, and Surender Nada in their ranks. In the final of the inaugural season, the team lost 24-35 to the Jaipur Pink Panthers.

Mumba then laid their hands on the title in the second edition, defeating the Bengaluru Bulls 36-30 in the final. They again reached the final in the next season (finishing at the top of the table for the second successive edition), only to endure a heartbreaking 31-28 defeat to the Patna Pirates.

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2. Jaipur Pink Panthers (3 times)

U Mumba’s arch-rivals Jaipur Pink Panthers too have played in the finals thrice. They topped the table in the inaugural edition. With the likes of Navneet Gautam, Jasveer Singh, and Maninder Singh in the side, the team triumphed in the final against Mumba.

Three seasons later, they reached their second final but lost 29-37 to the Patna Pirates. After a lull, the team regained its footing in the ninth season. With Arjun Deshwal wreaking havoc in raid, complemented brilliantly by Sunil Kumar and Ankush, the Panthers occupied the top spot at the end of the league stage and defeated the Puneri Paltan 33-29 in the final.

1. Patna Pirates (5 times)

The Patna Pirates have been in a league of their own, winning three titles and finishing as runners-up twice. With ‘Record Breaker’ Pardeep Narwal experiencing an upward graph, they won a hattrick of titles. After a close victory against U Mumba in the PKL 3 final, the side topped the charts in the next edition before defeating the Jaipur Pink Panthers in the final.

They then trounced the Gujarat Giants 55-38 in the summit clash of the fifth season, which continues to be the biggest victory margin in PKL finals. With Pardeep past his prime, the team had a re-jig. With the likes of Sachin Tanwar and Mohammadreza Shadloui at the helm of affairs, the Pirates topped the table in the eighth edition but ended up losing 36-37 to the Dabang Delhi- a defeat by a solitary point!

The pirates had a new look side in PKL 11. However, youngsters like Devank Dalal, Ayan Lohchab and Ankit Jaglan put on a superlative display, as the team reached its fifth finals before losing to the Haryana Steelers.

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