Injuries seem to have spread like wildfire in the Dabang Delhi KC camp. As per the latest reports, Delhi’s most experienced raider Ajay Thakur will miss the remainder of the ongoing edition of PKL.
Before being picked up by Delhi in the auctions last year, Thakur was one of the key players for Tamil Thailavas for three consecutive seasons. The franchise, though, couldn’t benefit much as they failed to qualify for the play-offs.
Dabang Delhi would have been hoping that the former India captain could take up that extra responsibility and bring some stability to the side after Naveen Kumar’s injury.
But with Thakur being ruled out as well, Delhi’s raiding department has had some big shoes to fill. The likes of Vijay, Ashu Malik and Narwal will now need to play out of their skins if they want to remain in the top 6 in the points table.
Delhi’s performance hasn’t been up to the mark in the last few games since the likes of Joginder Narwal and Naveen haven’t been playing. Although Sandeep Narwal has risen to the occasion and scored crucial raid points, the other senior players like Manjeet Chillar and Jeeva Kumar have struggled to contribute significantly.
DDKC has announced a replacement for Thakur in the form of Nitin Pawar. Before being ruled out, Ajay played four games for Delhi but didn’t raid much as he only scored 13 raid points. He never looked at his full fitness.
“It is unfortunate that I won’t be available for the second half of the league due to injury,”
“My best wishes are with the team Dabang Delhi K.C. and I’m sure that the team will perform at its best and finish on the top,”
Thakur said.
It’d be interesting to see if Delhi entrusts Nitin Pawar with more raiding duties once he becomes available for selection from the next week.
Delhi would hope to see Naveen Kumar back on the mat as soon as possible. Otherwise, they might have no one to carry the responsibility in the raiding department.
