Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Star raider Sonu Narwal to miss PKL after being ruled as 'physically unfit'

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Sonu Narwal (pink) has played for the Jaipur Pink Panthers

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The latest edition of the Pro Kabaddi League is all set to get underway in a few days time and teams are gearing up for what promises to be the biggest and longest franchise-based league tournament in the country. The new season will feature a total of 12 teams, after four new ones were added, who will contest nearly 140 matches across the length and breadth of the nation over a period of three months.

One of the new teams in the competition, the Haryana Steelers have assembled a fine squad consisting of some the best Indian stars in the business. In defence, they have in place the iconic duo of Surender Nada and Mohit Chhillar, arguably the best corner combination in the world.

Related: Haryana Steelers Team Players for Pro Kabaddi 2017, Season 5

They bought a host of star raiders in the auction such as Surjeet Singh, Deepak Kumar Dahiya, Wazir Singh, Prashant Kumar Rai and Sonu Narwal - all of whom have considerable PKL experience under their belt. However, Narwal is all set to miss out on the new season after he was dropped from the team.

Earlier this month, Sportskeeda had reported that the raider's name had been removed from the Haryana squad on the official Pro Kabaddi website and replaced with Mohammad Bilal. At the time, the team's management had refused to comment on the situation but now they have clarified that the lanky raider has indeed been removed from the team.

An official said, "He was physically unfit and did not meet the medical requirements of the team at the time of joining."

When asked whether he can join during the middle of the season, it was made clear that it was not possible. "We can confirm that he will be out for the entire duration of the campaign and there is no chance of him rejoining the team at any time," the team official added.

Narwal is a seasoned kabaddi veteran and was part of the Indian team that won the gold medal at the Asian Games in 2014. He has played for the Jaipur Pink Panthers and the Puneri Paltan in the previous three editions, recording a good haul of 138 raid points in 33 matches, which includes a solitary Super 10.

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