Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: 5 players from Bengaluru Bulls who can leave a mark

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In the past, the team had some stellar names don the team's jersey

Even before the auctions ahead of the fifth season, the Bengaluru Bulls management made one of the most baffling decisions in the league's history by releasing their star raider Rohit Kumar and retaining, instead, all rounder Ashish Kumar. If that wasn't enough, they piled on our bafflement by buying back Kumar for 81 lakhs in the auctions. If pre season strategies present any hints about teams' strategies in the tournament, it seems the Bulls are trying to master the art of deception for their games.

The team assembled by the Bengaluru management looks to be in dire need of more experience. Most of the names will be playing their second season while many others will be turning up for the first time on the the Pro Kabaddi League stage. However, if coach Randhir Singh is to be believed, it was a concerted effort to build a young team around raider Rohit Kumar.

His rationale is that since it's the longest of all seasons till now, only fresh legs can help a team sustain the intensity over the entire length of the tournament. While that does make some sense, one should not forget that early losses can often deflate the team's morale and derail the team's campaign.

Having said that, here are the 5 names Bengaluru Bulls will be relying on to up their game once the season gets underway

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#1 Rohit Kumar

Despite a lot happening in his personal life in the past one year, Kumar's focus has always been on Kabaddi

How individual brilliance counts for little in this game was demonstrated best by Rohit Kumar's helplessness in the last season. Kumar's average raids per match was next only to Telugu Titans' Rahul Chaudhari, yet it achieved little in contributing to the team's cause who hurtled from one defeat to another throughout the season.

With Ajay Kumar to partner him in the raiding department this season, one can hope to see a more free Rohit Kumar take the mat. However, he will still be handling captaincy duties and it remains to be seen how that pans out for the Bulls, for Kumar doesn't seem like a natural leader as someone like Anup Kumar of U Mumba or Manjeet Chillar of Jaipur Pink Panthers.

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