PKL 11: Dabang Delhi’s raiding firepower face defensive vulnerabilities on road to glory

New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS) Champions of season 8 of the Pro Kabaddi League, Dabang Delhi K.C. will be eager to get their hands on the PKL title once again, after crashing out in the playoffs stage in the last campaign. Dabang Delhi K.C. have reached the playoffs in each of the last five PKL seasons, and they will fancy their chances of another appearance in season 11.

Ahead of PKL season 11, Joginder Narwal, who served as an assistant coach under former Dabang Delhi K.C. head coach Rambir Singh Khokar in PKL 10, has been promoted to the role of head coach.

Joginder brings title-winning expertise, having led Dabang Delhi K.C. to their only PKL title as captain in season 8. Dabang Delhi weren’t the most active at the auction table, having retained most of their star players before the season 11 player auction. However, they boast a strong squad filled with top talents. Here’s a look at their strengths and weaknesses ahead of the new campaign.

Dabang Delhi undoubtedly possesses one of the strongest raiding units in the PKL, with the likes of Naveen Kumar and Ashu Malik forming an irresistible duo in the attack. Ashu Malik finished season 10 as the league’s joint top-scoring raider with 276 raid points, while two-time MVP Naveen Kumar is sixth on the all-time leaderboard for most raid points (1005) in PKL history.

While Naveen Kumar and Ashu Malik can be expected to wreak havoc on opposition defences, Dabang Delhi can be confident that they have plenty of firepower and depth in attack, should either of their star raiders have an off day.

The acquisition of Siddharth Desai, who has notched up 693 raid points, further strengthens their attack, while all-rounder Ashish has proven he can contribute in offence, having amassed 184 raid points in the past.

Meanwhile, Dabang Delhi’s defence could be a potential weakness if their top guns aren’t in form and not firing on all cylinders. After finishing third in the leaderboard for most tackle points (74) last season, Yogesh will be entrusted to lead the defence. While he did shine for Dabang Delhi last season, Yogesh isn’t the most experienced, and the same could be said about the rest of the team’s defensive unit.

Like Yogesh, Ashish is another Dabang Delhi defender who played his first PKL campaign in season 10, scoring a respectable 48 tackle points. The defensive performance of the season 8 champions in the new campaign will depend heavily on their young and relatively inexperienced defensive duo, Yogesh and Ashish. A bad day at the office for the pair could result in Dabang Delhi falling short in matches.

Even though the addition of Rinku Narwal for Rs 13 lakh at the player auction brings some defensive experience, it’s worth mentioning that he didn’t feature in PKL last season and hasn’t been the most consistent performer in the past. With 148 tackle points to his name and PKL experience under his belt, Rinku Narwal will be hoping to lead by example although it remains to be seen if that comes to pass.

As far as opportunities go, Dabang Delhi’s fringe talents will be hoping to step up and make the most of the chances that they receive. Their all-round talents like Ashish and Nitin Panwar will be hoping to make their presence felt, particularly, in defence – a potential area of concern for Dabang Delhi.

Over the years, Ashish and Nitin Panwar have managed 64 and 15 tackle points respectively, and they will be keen on improving their tally when given a chance to perform on the mat. All-rounder Brijendra Chaudhary will also hope to rise to the challenge when given the opportunity while defender Vikrant will be eager to kick on after accumulating 25 tackle points in his debut PKL campaign last season.

One of the biggest threats to Dabang Delhi’s PKL 11 campaign is the risk of injuries, particularly to their raiders. Naveen Kumar and Ashu Malik are capable of dismantling any opposition on their day. However, if either of them succumbs to injury, the burden of raiding will fall heavily on the other player, disrupting the team’s raiding balance.

Siddharth Desai has struggled to cope with the mantle of being a team’s main raider in the last few seasons and Dabang Delhi’s all-rounders don’t seem ready to take on the lead raider responsibility yet.

Naveen Kumar has suffered injuries that have sidelined him from games in recent seasons, including most of the last campaign, where he played a total of six games. Similarly, Ashu Malik endured a rotator cuff tear a couple of years ago, and needless to say, keeping both him and Naveen Kumar fit will be crucial to Dabang Delhi’s success in season 11.

–IANS

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