Nitin Tomar - "Pune's success is more important than the top raider prize"
Nitin Tomar was one of the 1-crore plus buys in this year's Pro Kabaddi League Auction as the Puneri Paltan franchise bought him for a price of 1.15 crores making him the joint third highest paid player in the league.
The move has paid good dividends for the Maharashtra franchises so far in the league as Nitin Tomar has been the best player on the mat for the Puneri Paltan and arguably the entire league as well. Tomar is currently the leading raid point scorer this season with a tally of 100 raid points from the eleven matches he has featured in. He averages a massive 9.09 raid points per match with a healthy success rate of 43.97 %.
Tomar has picked up four Super 10s this season and had produced a 20-point performance earlier in the season against the Dabang Delhi Kabaddi Club. Despite his stellar showing, Puneri Paltan lost out in that match owing to a strong all-around effort from the Delhi side.
Tomar spoke exclusively to Sportskeeda and spoke of his ambitions going into the season ahead. When quizzed about the possibility of ending up as the highest scoring raider this year in the league, he put the team's success ahead of his personal glory.
Pune's success is more important for me than the top raider prize. My goal is to lead the side to a title win this season in the league. I will give my 100% to achieve that and help the team.
Puneri Paltan had signed a new coach, Ashan Kumar before the start of the season and Tomar spoke highly of his ability to manage the side.
The coach is very helpful and helps us deliver our best on the mat. Also, we have a great captain in Girish Ernak to lead the side this season.
Puneri Paltan had a decent home leg and have won six out of their twelve matches this season and Tomar has played a big role for them. He sat out the last match after an ankle issue against Gujarat Fortunegiants but will be raring to return and help the team achieve success as the season takes shape.