Pro Kabaddi League 2018: Team analysis of Jaipur Pink Panthers
The latest Pro Kabaddi Auctions, which took place on the 30th and 31st of May, saw a total of 422 players getting under the hammer. However, only 181 players got divided into the respective 12 teams.
Silent assassin Monu Goyat turned out as the costliest player in the history of PKL, after being bought by Indian kabaddi's hotspot, i.e., Haryana's franchise Haryana Steelers for a whopping ₹151 lakhs. Iranian powerhouse Fazel Atrachali became the priciest foreign player after U Mumba bagged him for ₹100 lakhs.
Other players like Deepak Hooda, Nitin Tomar, Rishank Devadiga and Rahul Chaudhari also joined the crore party. The Mangalore-based Prashanth Rai became the most expensive player on Day 2 of the auctions.
The team management of Jaipur's franchise was also present at the auctions. They did not retain any player from their old team. It was clear that they wanted to start with a fresh team for the upcoming season.
Team owner Abhishek Bachchan, who seemed poised with furrowed brows throughout the auctions, proved once again that he is an amazing shopper. He tactically picked out outstanding players for his team.
Here is an expert analysis of the full squad of Jaipur Pink Panthers:
#1 Raiders
There are eight raiders on the team. Anup Kumar, or as he is popularly called Captain Cool, is one of them.
It was extremely shocking to us that U Mumba did not use their FBM card to bring him back. Junior Bachchan took the advantage and sealed the deal as he bought Anup for a mere price of ₹30 lakhs.
The 34 years-old raider has captained U Mumba since season one. He is famously known as the toe-touch king of kabaddi. He has scored a total of 546 points in his PKL career. This former Mumba player is one of the best kabaddi players ever.
The Kenyan hero David Mosambayi, Selvamani K., Anand Patil, Sunil Siddhgavali, Gangadhari Mallesh, Lokesh Kaushik and Ajit Singh will also don on Jaipur's famous colours - Pink and Blue.
All-in-all, raiders' side looks fine. There is no other substantial player other than Anup Kumar. Despite that, the youngsters seem good. They will require some proper guidance from the experienced and skilled Anup Kumar.