Pro Kabaddi League 2019: Predicting the captains of former Zone B teams
VIVO Pro Kabaddi League 2019 is all set to commence from 20th July 2019. Maharashtrian raiding sensation Siddharth Sirish Desai emerged as the costliest player of the season seven auctons as the Telugu Titans signed him for ₹145 lakh.
Puneri Paltan used their FBM card to retain the services of Nitin Tomar for ₹120 lakh. Rahul Chaudhari (₹94 lakh), Monu Goyat (₹93 lakh), Sandeep Narwal (₹89 lakh) went to the Tamil Thalaivas, UP Yoddha, and U Mumba respectively.
Matches will begin from 7:30 PM IST and the home legs of all teams will commence from every Saturday of a new week. The top six teams on the points table will qualify for the playoffs and the final will take place on 19th October 2019.
The seventh edition of PKL will witness a double round robin format. Unlike last two seasons, there will be no zones, inter-zonal matches,intra-zonal and wild card matches in this PKL edition. All teams will play each other twice in the group stage.
As we build up to the upcoming season, we take a look at the players, part of the former 'Zone B' teams who may lead their respective side in the upcoming seventh edition of PKL. The analysis made based on the players' experience and leadership quality.
Bengal Warriors - Maninder Singh
Maninder Singh started his PKL career in the inaugural season. He was the part of Jaipur Pink Panthers which won the trophy. However, he was soon hit by injury concerns and did not play the next three seasons.
Maninder made his comeback in PKL 5. He featured for the Bengal Warriors and enjoyed a top season, finishing with 192 points from 21 matches. In the next season, Maninder was retained by the Warriors and he repaid the faith as he went on to score 206 points from 22 matches.
Across three seasons, Maninder has scored 526 raid points in 59 matches at an average of of 8.92 points per match and is an integral part of Bengal Warriors' offensive department.
With ex-captain Surjeet Singh shifting to the Puneri Paltan, Maninder Singh is the only player in the current Warriors team who knows the strengths and weaknesses, making him a capable player to lead the team.