Pro Kabaddi League | Practice camp will decide who will start for us : Anup Kumar
With PKL scheduled to begin in July, Anup Kumar has said that he can’t guarantee any of the Puneri Paltan players a place in the starting 7 on the basis of seniority. Anup, who was appointed as the coach, has also mentioned that the performance in the pre-season camp will be important for selection.
After a disappointing finish in the previous edition of the Pro Kabaddi League, Puneri Paltan has geared up for a fresh season right from the auctions. The team roped in legendary kabaddi player and former India skipper Anup Kumar as the new coach ahead of the seventh season and also decided not to retain a single player before the auctions in April.
Puneri Paltan had finished fourth on the Zone A points table last year and will want to better that result in the upcoming season. After the auction, they were able to retain the services, via the FBM rule, of experienced players like Girish Ernak and Nitin Tomar while adding former Bengal Warriors skipper Surjeet Singh in their side after the auctions. However, coach Anup Kumar has made it clear that the starting 7 will be selected only according to the performance during the training session and not on the basis of seniority.
“I have been a sportsman myself. I have played for so many years and I will play the team as per my experience. There will be a pre-season camp and the players with good performance there will get a chance in the first seven. There will be no excuses of being a senior player,” Anup told SportsCafe.
“There is no guarantee that Surjeet, Girish and Nitin will play because they are seniors. A player, who will perform in the practice camp, I will give him the opportunity.”
Anup was appointed as the coach just ahead of the auctions in April and he took over the charge of the team from Ashan Kumar Sangwan. After retiring from competitive kabaddi last year, where he played for Jaipur Pink Panthers, the auctions were the first of its kind experience for the “Bonus Ka Badshah”.
Speaking about the strategy before the auctions, the Pune coach said, “We wanted to concentrate on both the departments. One department can’t yield you the results you want. Defence and offence should be good in kabaddi and there was no particular player that we wanted to have in the team. The players we were able to sign at a good price, we bought them. There were a couple of meetings to discuss our auction strategy before as well.”
When asked about the reason behind deciding not to retain a player during the Elite Players Retention, Anup replied, “We decided not to retain a player because we will have the freedom with more amount in our purse and that ensures us to go after a particular player. We had the option of using FBM cards for our players from last season. We had a target of getting Girish for 55-60 lakh rupees. We got him for a lesser amount and that was a benefit for us.”
© Puneri Paltan were clearly over-dependent on Tomar in the previous season and the team lost its way after he was ruled out after 11 matches due to injury. This year, however, the team has added players like Manjeet from Patna Pirates, Darshan Kadian from U Mumba, and Pawan Kadian from Dabang Delhi KC to support Tomar in the raiding department.
“Nitin played extremely well in the last season for us. Although he got injured and couldn’t play the entire season, we had an eye on him. The management was very happy with his nature and behaviour and we decided to go all out for him at the auctions,” the 36-year-old coach said.
Speaking about the raiders, the former star raider said, “We have Nitin and Manjeet who did well in the last season and they will do the job and I think if they stay fit and play the entire season, then there will be no issues for our team. Darshan and Pawan also played well and scored for their respective teams whenever they got a chance in the last season. The player who will get a chance will do well for sure. I have full faith in the players. We have two left raiders (Nitin and Pawan) and two right raiders (Darshan and Manjeet) among the four main raiders and that is a good thing for us.”
Ernak had led the team in the previous season and the experienced left corner defender was seen at both the cover and corner positions during the Pune games. But, this time, Anup wants his primary left corner defender Ernak to play at his specialised position only.
“I will try to fit in Girish at the corner position - his perfect place is at the corner. It is difficult for a player if he is displaced from his preferred position. Although he does well at a different position, the fear of committing an error always stays in his mind during a game,” Anup signed off.
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