Kabaddi fans will be glued to their Tv sets from tomorrow onwards which will mark the resumption of another season of PKL in Bengaluru behind closed doors and all eyes will be set on key players of all eight franchise who would be eager to give their best shot in the upcoming season. However this would not be easy for players this time around as they will be staying in bubble. Let’s summarize key players of each side for the upcoming season in detail .
- Bengal Warriors: They managed to win the title last year without their talismanic skipper Maninder Singh and the best thing about them in last season was their consistency as they have retained most of their past players and have added proven performers like Rishank Devadiga and Abozhar Mighani in their armoury for upcoming encounter they will be one of the team to look out for in the competition.
- Bengaluru Bulls: Bengaluru Bulls being another decorated franchise of PKL, have added more firepower in their squad for upcoming season with players like Chandran Ranjit and Deepak Narwal and they will be keen to support Pawan Kumar Sehrawat who has been one of the key players for Bulls.
- Dabang Delhi KC: Naveen Kumar was standout performer for them in last season with his sheer skills took the team to final in the last edition unfortunately couldn’t finish over the line but with addition of new players for upcoming season in form of Ajay Thakur, Sandeep Narwal and Manjeet Chillar and Joginder Narwal makes them a tough squad.
- Gujrat Fortunegiants: They would be eager to leave their past performance behind especially in last edition where they finished ninth but considering their team on paper their defence look strong with players like Ravindra Pahal and Sunil Kumar in their ranks as none of their raiders have proven track record in PKL.
- Harayana Steelers: Vikash Khandola impressed in the last season and Surender Nada is finally back in the side but the question remains how he maintains his fitness throughout the season.
- Jaipur Pink Panthers: Jaipur Pink Panthers are one of the few sides who you would be aware even if you are not a Kabaddi fan as they released a documentary on Amazon Prime named “The Son of Soil” where they depicted the behind the scenes scenario and the kind of pressure every player is in when they are playing in PKL. They have shown immense faith on players like Deeepak Niwas Hooda, Amit Hooda and Sandeep Kumar Dhull and it’s time for these ace players to repay back on the faith shown to them by the franchise.
- Patna Pirates: Patna Pirates didn’t retain one of their top players Pardeep Narwal and have players like Sachin, Monu Goyat and Prashanth Kumar Rai who will be their main raiders for upcoming season.
- Puneri Paltan: Anup Kumar as coach impressed in last season but the big players in last season failed to deliver when it was needed the most as the team finished at 10th spot in last season but with players like Baldev Singh and Vishal Bhardwaj, they have much better defence as compare to rest of their counterparts.
- Tamil Thailavas: Their auction for the upcoming season didn’t panned out the way they would have imagined as they are finishing at last place in previous three edition and they would need to bank upon their young players and provide them sheer confidence to deliver in the most anticipated event.
- Telgu Titians: Team will be banking on their players Siddharth Desai to deliver again in the crunch moments of the game.
- U Mumba: Impressed in the last edition with their performance in league stage but couldn’t deliver the same in the Knockout stage and they have retained players like Fazel Atrachali and Abhisek Singh but they failed to make a mark at the auctions with a vastly reduced purse and squad depth will be a big concern for them in the next season.
- UP Yodha: With players like Pardeep Narwal, Nitesh Kumar, Shrikant Jadhav and Sumit in their ranks, their starting seven would be looking best as compare to rest of their counterparts and they are looking a strong side on the paper if they play to their potential they would make it to the another playoffs of PKL.