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After a hiatus of more than a couple of years, the Pro Kabaddi League will be back on December 22.
The best players return to the mat, and it promises to be an exciting tournament with 12 teams fighting it out at the Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel and Convention Centre. In this article, 1x.news preview the most successful team in the league, Patna Pirates, along with the inaugural champions Jaipur Pink Panthers and underachievers Telugu Titans.
Patna Pirates
After winning a hat-trick of titles, the Pirates were lacklustre in the previous two seasons as they failed to qualify for the playoffs. They have moved on from their talismanic leader Pardeep Narwal, and it will be interesting to watch out how they perform sans his services.
Pardeep left a big void, and the men in green have stacked up their team with experienced raiders. Sachin Tanwar and Prashant Kumar Rai were the big buys in the raiding department in addition to PKL’s star overseas player Jang Kun Lee. Monu Goyat will come back to his old franchise and will hope to rekindle the magic he produced in seasons 4 and 5.
Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh was the most expensive foreign player of the auction, and he will be the key all-rounder. The worry for the Pirates will be the defensive unit that doesn’t aspire a lot of confidence based on their performances in the PKL so far. Neeraj Kumar, who was the best defender for the team in 2019, was retained. He will be the leader of the pack alongside left corner Sunil.
Squad: Monu Goyat, Guman Singh, Shubham Shinde, Sandeep, Sourav Gulia, Sajin Chandrasekar, Sunil, Sachin Tanwar, Prashanth Kumar Rai, Mohammadreza Chiyaneh, Jang Kun Lee, Neeraj Kumar, Monu, Mohit, Rajveersinh Pratap Rao Chavan, Sahil Mann.
The Pirates have put together a lethal set of raiders, but the defensive unit will be a cause of concern. If the defenders punch above their weight, Patna will be a strong contender for a place in the playoffs.
Jaipur Pink Panthers
The Jaipur Pink Panthers have been inconsistent as a unit over the last seven seasons of the PKL. They have failed to win a title since the inaugural season and will aim to break the jinx in the upcoming season. In the previous season, the pink outfit started off strongly but couldn’t sustain the momentum throughout the course of the tournament.
Arjun Deshwal, who announced his arrival in season 7 while playing for U Mumba, was roped in by the franchise for INR 96 lakhs. Deepak Niwas Hooda was bought through the Final Bid Match card. The franchise had already retained Nitin Rawal, who was impressive with over 120 points in PKL 2019.
The Abhishek Bachchan-owned franchise retained the core of the defensive unit in Amit Hooda and Vishal Lather. They have also added Dharmaraj Cheralathan to their ranks and bought back the services of Sandeep Dhull. The defensive unit is one of the best in the league.
Squad: Amit Hooda, Vishal, Pavan TR, Elavarasan A, Sandeep Kumar Dhull, Dharmaraj Cheralathan, Amit, Shaul Kumar, Nitin Rawal, Sachin Narwal, Deepak Niwas Hooda, Sushil Gulia, Mohammad Amin Nosrati, Amir Hossein Mohammadmaleki, Arjun Deshwal, Naveen, Ashok, Amit Nagar
The Jaipur-based franchise has struck a balance between experience and youth in the auction. If the top players perform up to the billing and the young players live up to their potential, the Pink Panthers will be one of the title contenders this season.
Telugu Titans
The Telugu Titans have failed to make it to the latter stages in the 12-team edition. They will be desperate to finish in the playoffs for the first time since season 4. The team was over-dependent on Siddharth Desai in the previous season, and they have added several raiders to strengthen the unit.
Titans have raiders like Desai, Rajnish and Rohit Kumar in their arsenal, making them one of the best raiders. In Kumar, the side has acquired the services of a great leader. Kumar was the captain of the Bengaluru Bulls team, which won the title in 2018. Sandeep Kandola and Ruturaj Koravi will be leading the defenders this season.
Squad: C. Arun, Siddharth Desai, Adarsh T, Amit Chauhan, G. Raju, Ruturaj Koravi, Sandeep, Rohit Kumar, Surender Singh, Hyunsu Park, Abe Tetsuro, Prince, Rakesh Gowda, Rajnish, Ankit Beniwal, Manish, Akash Choudhary, Akash Arsul.
Telugu Titans have assembled a balanced squad in terms of the quality of defenders and raiders in the squad. They have match-winners like Siddharth Desai and Rohit Kumar in their squad who can single-handedly lead the team to victory in a few games. Anything less than a finish in the playoffs will be a disappointment.
