# Pro Kabaddi League: Melbourne Raid

The Pro Kabaddi League: Melbourne Raid was an event hosted by the Pro Kabaddi League in association with the Victoria State Government that featured two Kabaddi exhibition matches. The Event was held on 28 December 2024 at the John Cain Arena in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Event featured two Kabaddi All Star matches, with the first match being against the PKL All Star Mavericks and the PKL All Star Masters, and the second match being against the Pro Kabaddi All Stars and the Aussie Raiders. The Event was announced on 11 November 2024, after Premier of Victoria Jacinta Allan visited India with the promise of bringing a Pro Kabaddi event to Melbourne.

## History

On 18 September 2024, the premier of Victoria Jacinta Allan released a press statement saying that she will be working with Head of Sports at Disney Star Sanjog Gupta and League Commissioner of PKL Anupam Goswami to bring a Pro Kabaddi League Showcase to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia in the next 18 Months. On 11 November 2024, Jacinta Allan held a press conference at John Cain Arena to announce that a Pro Kabaddi League showcase event called "Melbourne Raid" will be held at the arena on 28 December 2024, following Day 3 of the Boxing Day Test Cricket Match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between Australia and India. Tickets went on sale via Ticketmaster on 12 November 2024.
On 24 December 2024, Pro Kabaddi League announced the squads for the four teams that would be competing at the Melbourne Raid Event. Match 1 would be contested by two PKL All Star Teams named as the Mavericks and Masters, while Match 2 would be contested between a Pro Kabaddi All Stars team and the Aussie Raiders, with the Aussie Raiders consisting of former AFL Players.

## Venue

The Event was held at the John Cain Arena in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
* Australia
* Melbourne
* John Cain Arena
* Capacity: 10,300

## Broadcast

The two matches were broadcast on Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD, Star Sports First and Sports18 Khel on Television in India, as well as being streamed live on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website. In Australia, the two matches were livestreamed on 7plus for free.

## Teams

* Team
* PKL All Star Mavericks
* PKL All Star Masters
* Pro Kabaddi All Stars
* Aussie Raiders
PKL All Star Mavericks
| Name | Position |
| Ajay Thakur (captain) | Raider |
| Deepak Hooda | Raider |
| Aadesh | Raider |
| Rakesh | Raider |
| Pardeep Narwal | Raider |
| Nitin Rawal | Left Corner & Raider |
| Aditya Powar | Left Corner |
| Nitesh Kumar | Right Corner |
| Mayur Kadam | Right Cover |
| Priyank Chandel | Left Cover |
| Nitin | Left Corner |
| Sachin | Raider |
| E. Bhaskaran | Coach |
| Source: SportStar ||
PKL All Star Masters
| Name | Position |
| Rakesh Kumar (captain) | Raider |
| Anup Kumar | Raider |
| Sukesh Hegde | Raider |
| Jai Bhagwan | Raider |
| Maninder Singh | Raider |
| Jeeva Kumar | Left Cover |
| Sandeep Narwal | Right Cover |
| Vishal Bhardwaj | Left Corner |
| Saurabh Nandal | Right Corner |
| Mohit | Right Cover |
| Ran Singh | Right & Left Corner |
| Nitesh | Left Corner |
| B.C. Ramesh | Coach |
| Source: SportStar ||
Pro Kabaddi All Stars
| Name | Position |
| Anup Kumar (captain) | Raider |
| Rakesh Kumar | Raider |
| Sukesh Hegde | Raider |
| Jai Bhagwan | Raider |
| Maninder Singh | Raider |
| Jeeva Kumar | Left Cover |
| Sandeep Narwal | Right Cover |
| Vishal Bhardwaj | Left Corner |
| Saurabh Nandal | Right Corner |
| Mohit | Right Cover |
| Nitesh | Left Corner |
| E. Bhaskaran | Coach |
| Source: SportStar ||
Aussie Raiders
| Name | Position |
| Josh Kennedy (captain) | Left In & Raider |
| Marc Murphy | Corner & Raider |
| Dan Hannebery | Left Corner |
| Brett Deledio | Raider |
| Ben Nugent | Centre & Raider |
| Billy Gowers | Left Corner & Raider |
| Michael Hibberd | Left Corner |
| Trent McKenzie | Right In |
| Dyson Heppell | Left Corner & Raider |
| Liam Shiels | Right Corner & Raider |
| Campbell Brown | Coach |
| Source: SportStar ||

## Matches

* Match 1 28 December 2024 20:00 (AEDT), 14:30 (IST)
| PKL All Star Mavericks | 41 - 39 | PKL All Star Masters |
* PKL All Star Mavericks defeat PKL All Star Masters
* Match 2 28 December 2024 21:10 (AEDT), 15:40 (IST)
| Pro Kabaddi All Stars | 46 - 28 | Aussie Raiders |
* Pro Kabaddi All Stars defeat Aussie Raiders