PKL Auctions | What clicked and what didn’t – Bengal Warriors

04/23/2019

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It has been six seasons of the Pro Kabaddi League and Bengal Warriors are yet to make it to the final of the tournament. They had made it to the playoffs last year but lost the eliminator game and had to bow out of season 6 and would be hoping to change their fortunes in the seventh edition.

Last season’s performance:

Having a good young raiding unit and experienced defence, the Kolkata-based PKL team had managed to make it to the playoffs of the sixth season of the league last year. They had finished second on the Zone B points table with 69 points from 12 wins last year. However, the Warriors had to bow out of the competition as they went down to Dabang Delhi KC 39-28 in the second eliminator in the playoff stage.

With a young raider in the form of Maninder Singh and the popular Korean Jang Kun Lee, Bengal had a settled raiding unit last year. Players like Mahesh Goud and Ravindra Kumawat also chipped in whenever required as their third raider in the side. However, the defence was touted to be the strength for the Warriors at the beginning of the tournament. Skipper Surjeet Singh led an experienced defensive unit which also had Shrikant Tewthia, all-rounder Rann Singh and Baldev Singh with them. However, things didn’t go right as they moved ahead in the league and eventually Tewathia had to be dropped. Surjeet's form was also a concern for the franchise which was coached by Jagdish Kumble last year. Overall in season 6, Maninder took the charge of raiding but the defence was a failure for Bengal.

Positive takeaways from the auction:

Going as per the last year’s performance, Bengal decided to retain Maninder in Elite Player Retention category for the seventh season as well and he will be their primary raider for the second consecutive year. The franchise also decided to keep right corner Baldev Singh ahead of the fresh auctions to have an experienced corner defender in the set-up. The retained young players’ list includes left corner Adarsh and raider Kumawat and out of them Adarsh might get a direct look in at his defensive position and form a good combination with Baldev.

Iranian all-rounder Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibkhash’s signing is the biggest gain for Bengal from the auctions and he will most likely be the second raider for the team this season. After having Koran Lee in the side in all the six seasons, an Iranian, who was bought for whopping Rs. 77.75 lakh will shoulder similar responsibility for the Warriors. He can be handy in the defence at left in, a position where he plays for his national side with Fazel Atrachali on the same side at the corner. The second biggest but for the team was K Prapanjan. However, the former second raider of Gujarat Fortunegiants will most likely be used as the third raider in Bengal this time and Rs. 55.5 lakh looks to be a bit more for him.

In another positive move at the auction table, Bengal managed to rope in experienced cover defender Jeeva Kumar. He is someone who can be equally good at both the left and right side of the mat. Getting him for Rs 31 lakh ensures that Bengal have some experience in their side for the next season. They have tried to build their team from the scratch and Rinku Narwal might be helpful for them as well and we might see the former Pune defender, who was bought for Rs. 20 lakh, playing alternate matches at left corner. Raider Sukesh Hegde, who also fetched 20 lakh rupees, might only be a back-up option for the Kolkata side this year.

Bengal Team with their coach Jagdish Kumble in season 6 © PKL

Threats for next season:

Bengal’s defence had faltered last year and this year it doesn’t look great for them either. The defensive unit lacks a big name and the only experienced man in the side – Jeeva – was not in the best of his forms last season for UP Yoddha. The team which lacks a good hand at the left corner will find it difficult at the right one as well considering Baldev’s knack of becoming too rash in his tackles, which might prove dangerous for the City of Joy this season. Right cover defender Vijin Thangadurai and left cover Viraj Vishnu Landge haven't had a great year last time around either, which makes the defensive unit even more fragile.

Bengal Warriors Squad:

Baldev Singh, Maninder Singh, Adarsh T, Ravindra Kumawat, Sahil, Mohammad Nabibakhsh, K Prapanjan, Jeeva Kumar, Rinku Narwal, Sukesh Hedgde, Amit Kumar, Rakesh Narwal, Mohammad Taghi, Amir Santosh Dhumal, AR Avinash, Vijin Thangadurai, Bhuvneshwar Gaur, Viraj Vishnu Landge, Dharmendra Singh