: The Pro Volleyball League, being launched early next year, will benefit domestic players to a great extent as they can rub shoulders with some of the top spikers from overseas, India team captain Ukkrapandian said Monday.
"The professional volleyball league is going to be a great platform for all players in India, especially the youngsters," he said.
The league, which is slated to take off in February 2019, would enable Indian players rub shoulders with some top spikers from various countries and learn tricks, he said.
"The PVL will be a huge opportunity for Indian players to play alongside foreign players and learn from them," Ukkrapandian, considered one of the best setters in Asia, told PTI.
He said Indian players were already good and the league would help them get better as they would play alongside some quality players.
PVL could also be the catalyst for volleyball becoming more popular among the masses and help improve the standard of the sport besides leading to unearthing of new talent as Indian Premier League did for cricket, he opined.
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"IPL provided a platform for young cricketers in the country and also helped unearth a lot of new talent. PVL could be a similar thing for volleyball," the Chennai-based spiker said.
Apart from Ukkrapandian, some top players like Ranjit Singh, Akhin Jas, Deepesh Sinha, Gurinder Singh and Prabhagarn are expected to part of the league.
Prabhagarn echoed Ukkrapandian's thoughts and said the league could do a world of good for Indian volleyball.
"It is a huge chance for youngsters to shine and show to the world that volleyball in the country has a great scope. Also, our players will learn by playing alongside foreigners," he said.
The PVL, which will be televised, is likely to see six teams battling it for honours.
It is set to attract some of the best foreign talents, with the star attraction being USA's gold-medal winning Olympian David Lee.
Tuhir Mishra, co-founder and managing director, Baseline Ventures Pvt Ltd, promoter of the league, said the first season of PVL promises to be an exciting one with top players from India and across the globe participating.
"The first season of PVL promises to be really exciting with top players from India and across the globe participating in it," he added.