3 reasons why Jaipur Pink Panthers could win the Pro Kabaddi League 2019
First season champions Jaipur Pink Panthers have cooled off after their win in the first season of the league as they failed to qualify for the playoffs from four seasons and their best performance came during season 4 when they concluded as the runner-up.
In Pro Kabaddi League season 4, the Jaipur Pink Panthers will play their first match on 23rd July 2019 against arch foes U Mumba. Their home leg will start from 21st September and culminate on 27th September, at Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
With Deepak Niwas Hooda set to lead the team, here are three reasons why Jaipur Pink Panthers could lift the trophy.
Plenty of raiding option:
Jaipur Pink Panthers have plenty of raiding alternatives with them, with Deepak Niwaas Hooda, Nilesh Salunke, Ajinkya Pawar and Deepak Narwal proving their worth on the raiding front.
Deepak Hooda has 710 raid points in his career, together with 24 super 10s to his name with an average of 6.89 raids per game. While Nilesh Kumar on the other hans has 250 points from 62 matches and will be key to bring about the bonus points.
Maharashtrian Ajinkya Pawar was one of the finds of PKL season 6. In his first season, he scored 71 raid points in 17 games at an average of 4.18.
Defensive unit will be led by Amit Hooda:
Jaipur Pink Panthers bought the services of right corner Amit Hooda for 53 lakh. He was the best defender for the Panthers in season 4 and played a crucial part in the defensive line, he scored 51 tackle points in 16 games.
After that, ankle hold specialist Amit Hooda went to Tamil Thalaivas. He concluded as the seventh best defender of the fifth season with 6 tackle points. Although, in seson 6, he under performed as he scored 51 points in 18 matches.
His partner in the defence left corner, Sandeep Dhull was in Delhi Dabang for the third season and Telugu Titans in season four before finally joining the Panthers last year.
Sundeep turned out to be one of the most lethal defender for the Panthers last season, as he scored 67 tackle points in 22 games at an average of 3.05.
Well rounded team with proper backups:
Panthers have bought 18 players for the seventh season of PKL. The team has a back-up for almost every position. They have many raiding options with Deepak Niwas Hooda, Deepak Narwal, Ajinkya Pawar and Nilish Salunke.
Even if these raiders fail to perform, young raiders Guman Singh, Lokesh Kaushik and Milinda Chaturanga can provide ample support.
If Deepak Hooda fails while raiding, Rawal can play at the left cover position while other defender Santhapanaselvam is also there as a back up.
Pawan TR, Elavarasan A, Karamvir, Dong Gyu Kim, Sachin Narwal could also have plenty of game time, with youngsters proving in the domestic circuit that they are ready for making an influence in the PKL.
