NEW DELHI: Pirates known for nurturing kabaddi champions reflected very well during three-day players auction held between August 29-31. Once again Pirates in their choice of players have opted for a mix of youth and experience.
Pirates have been successful in bringing out best from young players in past and been instrumental in giving many champions to the league with their flamboyant style of playing kabaddi. The squad mix again this year promises that Kabbadi will remain as exciting as before even when the teams will be following all Covid Appropriate Protocols during S8 matches.
Sachin (Raider) and Prashanth Kumar Rai (Raider) were top picks from the players auction for the Eighth Season of Vivo Pro Kabaddi. The champions in making who will make up the squad include Jang Kun (Left Raider), Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyanesh ( All-Rounder), Sunil (Defender- Right Corner), Sajin Chandrasekar ( All Rounder), Sourvav Gulia (Defender) Guman Singh (Raider), Sandeep (Defender- Left Corner), Shubham Shinde (Defender- Right Corner) and Monu Goyat who is back with Pirates as a champion raider.
As announced earlier, the players retained for the Season 8 are Rajveersinh Chavan, Sahil Mann & Mohit (as Raiders), and Neeraj Kumar & Monu (as Defenders). The champions will be nurtured by Arjuna Awardee Kabaddi Coach Shri Ram Mehar Singh.
Marking the formation behind Patna Pirates new team for Season 8, Coach Shri Ram Mehar Singh said, “ We have an excellent balance between youth and experience with a good mix of raiders, defenders and all-rounders. When it comes to raiding Prashant Kumar Rai, Monu Goyat and Jang Kun Lee will bring experience to the squad while raiders like Sachin and Guman Singh will bring youth skills to give our raiding department right edge over the defence of any side”.
He further added “ In defence mix we already had Neeraj who is one of the best cover defenders in the league and combined with Sourav Gulia our cover cordons are further strengthened. When it comes to Corners, we have acquired powerful Iranian left corner in Shadaloo and giving him company in the right corner will be Sunil who had an impressive season 7.”
“Add to the above mix we have an all-rounder in Monu who is useful in any crunch situation and with promising young Sajin in the team, we have two formidable players to bank on any circumstance. So overall we are very satisfied with the team formation and the balance. We promise to our fans that Pirates will look to recreate the magic of seasons 3,4 and 5” he said.
The much-awaited Pro Kabbadi League (PKL) is back after a year’s hiatus owing to Covid-19 pandemic. The Patna Pirates, PKL’s most successful team and the only one to defend their title thrice, will play to regain the champion title by clinching India’s most successful sports league yet again.
