5 things that will happen for the first time in this Pro Kabaddi Season
India’s second most successful sports league, Pro Kabaddi League will begin from tomorrow 7th October 2018. Chennai is to host the first leg of season 6. Home-team Tamil Thalaivas will take on Patna Pirates.
Auction for this season was held in May, where majority of the teams have come up with new and fresh squads. With the new season, new squads there are some interesting things that will happen in PKL for the first time in its history.
1) 6 Crorepati players will play in a season
Monu Goyat, Rahul Chaudhari, Deepak Hooda, Nitin Tomar, and Rishank Devadiga and Fazel Atrachali who were sold at Rs.1 Crore and more will be seen playing PKL season 6. It is for the first time that the players got bid for Rs.1 crore and above.
Monu Goyat became the highest paid PKL player in the history of Pro Kabaddi League. He will play for Haryana Steelers who purchase him for Rs.1.15 Cr. whereas Rahul Chaudhari was retained by Telugu Titans through FBM for Rs. 1.29 Cr. Deepak Hooda moved to Jaipur Pink Panthers who purchased him for 1.15 Cr. PKL season 5’s costliest player Nitin Tomar will play for Puneri Paltan who brought him for Rs. 1.15 Cr. Rishank Devadiga will be seen playing for UP Yoddha. They retained him for Rs 1.11 Cr. through FBM. Iran Kabaddi Team captain Fazel Atrachali has become the first foreign player to sold for Rs. 1 Cr. He is bought back by his former team U Mumba. All Kabaddi fans are curious to watch how these expensive players play for their respective teams.
2) Anup Kumar will be leading Jaipur Pink Panthers
Anup Kumar who is the most successful captain in PKL history will be leading Jaipur Pink Panthers. Before the auctions, U Mumba did not retain Anup which was surprising for the Kabaddi fans. In the auctions, Jaipur Pink Panthers picked Anup.
Anup has played 5 seasons for U Mumba and was captain of the team. He also earned the tag of ‘Captain Cool’ here with U Mumba only. Under his captaincy, U Mumba was champion of PKL season 2. They were the runners-up in season 1 & 2. Due to auctions, U Mumba players were selected by different teams in season 4. So they stood at the 5th position of PKL season 4. The same scenario was repeated in season 5, where U Mumba was in 4th position. For the first time in PKL history, Anup Kumar will be playing against U Mumba. It will be interesting to see how he strategizes against his former team.
3) PKL’s deadliest defense combo SUMO pair will play against each other
Most successive defense pair of PKL will be seen playing from different teams. Surender Nada and Mohit Chhillar (SUMO) duo have split in the auction 6. From season 1, they both played in the same team like U Mumba, Bengaluru Bulls, and Haryana Steelers. Their unmatched chemistry when they come together can strike terror into the hearts of even the most experienced raiders.
When Nada goes for an ankle hold Mohit supports and when Mohit blocks any raider Nada makes sure there is no space for the raider to escape. For the upcoming season of PKL, Nada is with Haryana Steelers and Mohit has switched to Jaipur Pink Panthers. It will be interesting to see how both of them play against each other.
4) Manjeet Chhillar will not play as a captain
PKL’s most successful all-rounder Manjeet Chhillar will not captain any side in the forthcoming season 6. Manjeet Chhillar was the captain of Bengaluru Bulls in season 1 & 2. He led Puneri Paltan in season 3 & 4. In the last season, he was the captain of Jaipur Pink Panthers. In the first season of PKL, Bengaluru Bulls were placed at 4th position and they were the runner-up in season 2 under Manjeet’s captaincy. In season 3 & 4, Manjeet led Puneri Paltan to the 3rd position. Season 5 was not so good for him as his team Jaipur Pink Panthers were at 5th position at the points table. For the upcoming season 6, Manjeet Chhillar will be donning Tamil Thalaivas jersey. It will be interesting to see how Manjeet will play under the captaincy of Ajay Thakur.
5) Jasvir will not be a part of Jaipur Pink Panthers
The smiling assassin Jasvir Singh will now be part of Tamil Thalaivas after playing 5 seasons for Jaipur Pink Panthers. He is one of the most experienced players of PKL. Jasvir has scored 113 points from 15 matches in season 1. In next season he clinched 74 points from 13 matches.
Third season was not good for him as he had to miss some matches due to injury. He managed to score only 25 points from 4 matches. Next season, Jasvir showed his spark again as he took 88 points from 14 matches. In the last season, he scored 66 points from 15 matches. Even after playing all the 5 seasons for the Panthers, he was not retained by the team. In the season 6, Jasvir Singh will be seen playing for Tamil Thalaivas. Kabaddi fans will be excited to see him play against his former Jaipur team.