The three-time Pro Kabaddi League champions narrowly missed out on glory in the previous campaign. However, the Pirates from the land of Patliputra are now gearing up to begin their search for the fourth one in the ninth edition of the PKL. Hence, ‘Parimatch News‘ brings an in-depth analysis of the Patna Pirates squad for the Pro Kabaddi Season 9.
Patna had a great run in the last season where they dominated each and every counterpart except on the night of Grand Finale. They topped the league stage standings after fetching 89 match points from 22 games and ensured their playoffs qualification after a halt of two seasons. Patna fans were just picking themselves up from the departure of Pardeep Narwal as the head coach Ram Mehar Singh gave another heartbreaking news and joined Gujarat Giants.
Ravi Shetty who previously served as the assistant coach of Puneri Paltan in the last edition has been appointed as their new gaffer. We will get to see him in the lead role after a long time as the last time he took the major responsibility was back in 2014 at U Mumba. The Patna Army under the new regime of Shetty is ready to orchestrate another ‘Pirate Hamla’ on the prestigious PKL trophy.
Squad
Raiders: Sachin Tanwar, Monu Sandhu, Vishwas Gowda, Sushil Gulia, Anand Tomar, Rohit Narwal, Ranjit Naik, Anuj Tanwar
Defenders: Neeraj Kumar, Sunil Narwal, Sajin Chandrashekar, Manish Dhull, Shivam Chaudhari, Naveen Sharma, Thiyagrajan Yuvraj
All-rounders: Mohammadreza Shadloui, Rohit Gulia, Daniel Omondi, Sagar Kumar, Abdul Insamam
Raid Department
Sachin Tanwar is back in the lead role
Patna had a star-studded raiding unit previously in the presence of Prasanth Kumar Rai, Monu Goyat and Guman Singh. However, all of them are released by the Pirates and only Sachin Tanwar has been retained to don the Green colours in the forthcoming season. In Season 8, Sachin was the only Pirate to make it to the Top 10 charts of highest raid points scorers of the season.
The Rajasthan-based raider was bought back by the three-time champions through an FBM card at the auction price of 81 lac. They paid 3 lac less than the previous auction price of the right raider who scored 172 raid points in 23 appearances for them. Along with Sachin, the familiar face Monu Sandhu will be also there to play his third consecutive season for the Bihar-based franchise.
The responsibility of being the third raider and scoring quick multi-point raids has been given to Rohit Gulia who has donned such a role before on the grandest stage of PKL. The former Gujarat Giants skipper just recently won the fourth consecutive Senior National Championship with Railways Sports Promotion Board. The raiding all-rounder who was part of the Haryana Steelers for 83 Lac in the previous season took a heavy pay-cut and got sold to Patna Pirates at the base price of 30 Lac.
Defense Department
With the kind of coaching profile Ravi Shetty has, it was a no-brainer that the first thing he will secure is the defensive line of Pirates. The compactness of the defensive department was one of the main reasons behind their runners-up position in Season 8. First of all, they retained the likes of Mohammadreza Shadloui, Neeraj Kumar and Sajin Chandrasekar and then bought back the right corner defender Sunil Narwal using an FBM card at a lower price.
Therefore we will get to see the same defense line guarding the Patna fortress in Season 9 too. In the previous edition, Patna was the only franchise which had three defenders among the 16 highest tackle points scorers of the last season. Their total tally of 289 tackle points from 24 matches was also the highest among all participating franchises averaging 12 tackle points per game.
The Iranian left corner defender Mohammadreza Chiyaneh Shadloui will be the star attraction of the three-time champions in the forthcoming PKL saga. The Services cover defender Neeraj Kumar who donned the role of vice-captain in the last edition can be seen leading them this time. However, they will surely be missing the presence of the Super-sub Shubham Shinde who has now moved to Bengal Warriors.
Foreign Knights
Patna Pirates is the only franchise that will be stepping into the ninth edition with the same pair of foreigners which were on their roster in the last campaign. Usually, the foreign players find it quite hard to impress the team authorities enough to retain them but the Patna management has entrusted their overseas knights. Shadloui was among six retained Pirates before the auction round while Daniel Omondi’s purchase cost them the base price of 10 Lac.
The prince of Iranian supremacy
Mohammadreza was undoubtedly the PKL debutant of season 8 as he turned himself from an unknown commodity to an elite player in no time. He topped the individual charts of most successful tackles, most tackle points and most High 5s which eventually led him to the prestigious honour of the Orange Armband. He became the only second Iranian to claim the Orange Armband while his tally of 89 tackle points from 24 games was also the highest by any foreigner in the history of PKL.
The Kenyan raider made his first cut into the PKL after playing a vital role in his nation’s silver medal triumph at the pentangular Bangabandhu Kabaddi Cup 2021. Where he scored 24 raid points in six games and caught the attention of Patna Pirates scouts. He has only made a single appearance for them and that too in a dead-rubber fixture against Dabang Delhi where they fielded a second-stringed side and he scored two raid points.
NYP Trump Cards
Patna retained two players, raider Rohit Narwal and left cover defender Manish Dhull from NYP category players of the last season. Both of them remained untested in the last edition hence Patna has given a second chance for them to showcase their talent to the PKL universe. The 24-year-old stalwart Manish just recently captained the Murthal Magnets side to the inaugural championship of the Yuva Kabaddi Series.
The Bihar-based has also inducted four new players into its roster through the NYP category. The NYP core includes the names of left-raider Anuj Tanwar, right-raider Ranjit Naik, left-corner Thiyagrajan Yuvraj and right-corner Naveen Sharma. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) disciple Naveen Sharma also emerged from the ranks of the Yuva Kabaddi Series where he represented the Periyar Panthers.
Raider Anuj Tanwar is the NYP emerging star to watch out for in the upcoming PKL caravan. Anuj was part of the Haryana side which claimed the bronze medal at the 66th Senior Nationals and also played a pivotal role in Haryana’s Khelo India Youth Games 2020 triumph.
Strongest Starting Seven
Sachin Tanwar (Raider), Rohit Gulia (All-rounder), Monu Sandhu (Raider), Sajin Chandrasekar (Left Cover), Neeraj Kumar (Right Cover), Mohammadreza Shadloui (Left Corner), Sunil Narwal (Right Corner)