Pro Kabaddi League | Happy to see Puneri Paltan’s faith in me at auctions, expresses Nitin Tomar

After playing for UP Yoddha in 2017, Nitin Tomar was bagged by Puneri Paltan for the sixth season of the league last year. However, after a disappointing show as a team in the previous season, Paltan decided to release all their players ahead of the auctions for season 7. But, Tomar was again bought by the Pune-based franchise for a whopping Rs. 1.20 crore at the auction, which is the second biggest price after Telugu Titans’ raider Siddharth Desai who went for 1.45 crore rupees this year.

“I am really happy that Puneri Paltan kept faith in me and got me back in the team again. I was injured and missed a few of the games last year. I will try to be fit in the entire season this time and take the team to the title.”

“I have recovered well after the injury, I played the nationals and departmental tournaments after that. Now I am totally fit for the next season, explained the 23-year-old raider.

Speaking about the impact Anup will have on the team and him, Tomar said, “He has been a great player and I have played under his captaincy before as well in the 2016 World Cup. He makes a good plan and was a great raider in his playing days. I am looking forward to playing under his guidance and learn whatever I can from him this time.”

Puneri Paltan was heavily dependent on Tomar last season in the raiding department as GB More, Rajesh Mondal, and other raiders weren’t that effective for the team. Their performance had a downward graph as well after Tomar was ruled out due to injury in 2018. However, with some young raiders the side is looking good with the support system of Tomar this season. Pune have brought in players like Manjeet, Pawan Kadian and Darshan Kadian who were decent in their raids whenever they had a chance for their respective teams last year.

“There is a very good raiding unit this year. We have good supporting raiders this time around. Pawan, Darshan and Manjeet in the team make sure that there is good support in the raiding unit this time for Puneri Paltan,” the star raider said. 

Apart from Tomar, the Paltan will also have the services of their last year’s captain Girish Ernak in season 7. The two of them, being the senior members in the squad, will have to handle the responsibility on their shoulders. Tomar also stated about the discussions between the senior players during the game or in the time-outs.

“The combination from last year will be there to some extent this year. Girish is also there. so our main motive will be to play with proper coordination so that we do well this season. Our aim for this season would be to become  champions and we will work on our mistakes from the last season and so well this year.”