Dabang Delhi
In the previous season, raiding had always been a strength of Dabang Delhi. It was their defense that had let them down in many games, including the finals, where they managed to score only 3 tackle points. This season, the team management has gone all out to strengthen this area and spent heavily on veteran defenders.
Sandeep Narwal, Jeeva Kumar, and Ajay Thakur combined cost the team about one-third of its total purse amount. The three will join Manjeet Chhillar and Joginder Singh Narwal in fortifying Delhi’s half.
As for the raiders, the team has retained its star performer Naveen Kumar, who scored 18 points in the previous season’s final. He will be assisted by the other retained players like Balram, Mohit, Sumit, and Neeraj Narwal. They will be joined by the acrobatic Sushant Sail, who previously played for Puneri Paltan.
Puneri Paltan
Puneri Paltan has retained its star raider, Nitin Tomar, who was a bright spot in an otherwise dull campaign for the team. He will be joined by Rahul Chaudhri, who comes in from the Tamil Thalaivas. The team also acquired the services of the Kenyan all-rounder Victor Obiero from the Thalaivas.
Other retained players include Pankaj Mohite, Pawan Kumar Kadian, Hadi Tajik, as well as Balasaheb Jadhav. The team has brought in young talent in the form of Mohit Goyat and Govind Gurjar. Both the players have had a memorable outing in the Junior as well as the Senior level tournaments respectively.
The defense of the team will be strengthened by the duo of Vishal Bhardwaj and Baldev Singh, who have played many games together in their junior days. This old chemistry will play an important role in securing their side of the mat.
Dabang Delhi’s all-rounder Vijay is just one point short of completing 200 career points in the PKL.
Rahul Chaudhry is only the second player in PKL history to score more than 1000 career points.
While Puneri Paltan has made some valuable additions to their team this season, the bench strength of the Dabang Delhi team gives them an upper hand, enabling them to make good of any challenge thrown at them. We think Naveen Kumar is easily one of the best raiders in the entire PKL and his presence makes Dabang Delhi very difficult to beat.
Bet on Dabang Delhi to win.