PKL Team Analysis: All 12 franchises build robust squads for Season 11

MUMBAI: After a two-day bidding war at the Pro Kabaddi Season 11 player auction in Mumbai on August 15 and 16, all 12 PKL franchises now have a revamped squad at their disposal before the commencement of the new campaign. Ahead of PKL Season 11, let’s have a look at how the squads are shaping up.

Bengal Warriorz

The Warriorz have assembled a solid squad, with seasoned veterans Maninder Singh, retained through the FBM card at INR 1.15 Crore, and Fazel Atrachali, bought for INR 50 Lakh, leading their attack and defence respectively. Blessed with squad depth, Bengal Warriorz appear to have covered all bases at the auction, with experienced individuals like Nitesh Kumar, Mayur Kadam, and Vaibhav Garje bolstering their defence. In attack, Maninder will be supported by Nitin Kumar, Vishwas S, Arjun Rathi, and Taiwanese raider Chai-Ming Chang.

Bengaluru Bulls

New-look Bengaluru Bulls will be raring for action after fine-tuning their squad with some key additions. They strengthened their attack at the player auction by buying top quality raiders like Ajinkya Pawar and Pardeep Narwal for INR 1.107 crore and INR 70 Lakh respectively. Jai Bhagwan (INR 63 Lakh) is another key addition in attack for the Bulls, while the experienced all-rounder Nitin Rawal is a player who contributes on both ends of the mat.

Gujarat Giants

Ahead of the Player Auction, Gujarat Giants retained two of their top stars from Season 10. They retained Parteek Dahiya as well as Rakesh and ensured that they have well established raiders who are capable of scoring raid points at will. The Giants then further bolstered their attack at the player auction with a successful bid of INR 1.97 Crore for raider Guman Singh. They also strengthened their defence at the player auction with the signings of Harsh Lad and Neeraj Kumar.

Puneri Paltan

Similar to the Haryana Steelers, Puneri Paltan retained most of their title-winning players from last season. All-rounder Aslam Inamdar, raiders Akash Shinde, Pankaj Mohite, and Mohit Goyat as well as defenders Sanket Sawant, Abinesh Nadarajan, Gaurav Khatri, and Vaibhav Kamble were all retained. They also made quality additions at the player auction by buying raider V Ajith Kumar (INR 66 Lakh), defenders Vishal (INR 13 Lakh) and Mohit (INR 20 Lakh), as well as Iranian all-rounder Amir Hassan Noroozi (INR 13.40 Lakh).

Tamil Thalaivas

Having retained the likes of Sahil Gulia, Sagar, Narender, M Abishek, and Himanshu to keep their core squad from last season in place, Tamil Thalaivas were rather quiet at the Player Auction. However, they still managed to record the biggest bid of the player auction after signing do-or-die raid specialist Sachin for a whopping price of INR 2.15 crore. With Sachin and Narender in attack along with Sagar and Sahil in defence, Tamil Thalaivas look capable of having a strong season.

U Mumba

Before the player auction, U Mumba retained Amirmohammad Zafardanesh, defenders Rinku, Bittu, Gokulakannan M., and Sombir. The Season 2 champions then proceeded to make smart purchases at the player auction and bought Sunil Kumar for INR 1.015 crore to make him the most expensive Indian defender of all time. They also signed Parvesh Bhainswal for INR 19.50 Lakh and raider Manjeet for INR 80 Lakh to cover all bases in their squad.