Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: 5 teams who might regret their choice of captain later
The fifth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League is almost upon us and promises to be bigger and better than ever. It will feature a whopping 12 teams. after four new ones were added, who will contest nearly 140 matches spread across a period of three months.
Each team will turn over a new leaf for the new season, starting from scratch (well, almost) and building a completely new unit following a player auction conducted in May. How the teams will fare remains to be seen once the season gets underway but on paper, no team stands out in particular - which is only good news as we will get to see well-contested battles on the mat.
The role of a leader, like in many other sports, is crucial in kabaddi and it was only on Tuesday that the captains of all the 12 franchises were formally revealed and announced. While some picks such as Anup Kumar (U Mumba) and Ajay Thakur (Tamil Thalaivas) are obvious ones, there are definitely some that can raise a few eyebrows.
In this article, let's take a look at five captaincy picks that could later haunt the teams once the season reaches its business end!
#1 Patna Pirates
We kick off the list with the double defending champions Patna Pirates, who have named star raider Pardeep Narwal as their man with the armband, which makes him the youngest captain in the PKL. While his abilities on the mat can never be doubted, the decision to give him the captaincy is questionable - given his tender age and relative inexperience.
The Pirates management's rationale behind picking the 20-year-old was the fact that he is the number one fan favourite and that he displayed excellent leadership qualities during the senior nationals. But the decision could backfire if the youngster is unable to balance the role of being the primary raider and team leader, especially given the fact that Patna do not have many game-changing raiders in their side.
A more understandable choice would have been defender Vishal Mane, who has much more experience than Narwal and will also spend more time on the mat, given his position as a cover defender. It remains to be seen how Narwal will fare and one hopes that the captain's role does not come in the way of the 'Dubki King's' raiding exploits.
Also read: Patna Pirates Team Players for Pro Kabaddi 2017, Season 5