UP Yoddha is the only franchise in PKL that has a 100% record for qualifying in the playoff round each and every appearance. However, the Yoddhas from the land of Uttar Pradesh is still in search of their maiden trophy seizure at the world’s biggest Kabaddi event. Hence, ‘Parimatch News‘ brings in-depth analysis of the UP Yoddha squad for the Pro Kabaddi Season 9.
The Red and Blues had a memorable campaign in Season 8 where they made it to the semifinal round and lost the penultimate bout against Patna Pirates. After obtaining 68 points from 22 games, UP finished the league stages in the third position for consecutive seasons. They were able to get better of Anup’s Puneri Paltan in the first eliminator but could stand upon the table-toppers Patna Pirates in the following round.
After a long association with UP Yoddha, Arjun Singh who served as an assistant coach in the previous season has finally parted ways with his home franchise. The team management replaced him with the three-time PKL champion Jeeva Kumar who was also part of the Yoddhas roster for a couple of seasons. General Jasveer Singh and his Yoddha army might have missed out on glory in the previous season but are determined to bounce back stronger than ever in the forthcoming edition.
Squad
Raiders: Pardeep Narwal, Surender Gill, Nitin Tomar, Rohit Tomar, Gulveer Singh, Rathan Gowda, James Kamweti, Aman Hooda, Durgesh Netam, Anil Kumar, Mahipal Sinwar
Defenders: Nitesh Kumar, Sumit Sangwan, Ashu Singh, Abozar Mighani, Jaideep Sharma, Shubham Baliyan, M Babu
All-rounders: Nitin Panwar, Gurdeep Sangwan, Nehal Desai
Raid Department
It’s time for the record-breaker Pardeep Narwal to reclaim his crown
UP had a star-studded raiding unit in the previous season however, they still failed to live up to expectations which were raised by their high-profile standards. Surender Gill was the best offensive performer of the season, Pardeep showed vast inconsistency while Shrikant Jadhav remained off-colour throughout the campaign. The Yoddha management decided to keep Gill and Pardeep but went on to replace the Railways star Jadhav with Nitin Tomar for the upcoming season.
Pardeep who was then the most expensive player in the history of PKL failed to meet the expectations of UP fans who were hoping for him to guide them to their maiden glory. The Haryana superstar raider scored 188 raid points from 24 appearances which is his lowest individual tally since Season 4 which was the pre-expansion time of the PKL.
The 2016 World Cup winner was set to reunite with his former coach Ram Mehar Singh at Gujarat Giants but then the Uttar Pradesh-based outfit used their FBM card and secured his services at a lower price of 90 Lac. Pardeep was surprisingly outclassed by Surender Gill who recently made his debut at the Senior Nationals and won the bronze medal with Goa.
It is the homecoming of Nitin Tomar who also represents UP state at the Senior National Championship while they bought him at the base price of 20 Lac. The 26-year-old last played for his home franchise back in the fifth edition where he captained them in their debut PKL campaign.
Defense Department
The Great Wall of UP practising at the franchise’s youth academy facility
We will get to see the same core defenders lining up to defend the fortunes of Yoddhas at Pro Kabaddi once again. The incredible defensive performance of the Red and Blues in Season 8 left behind a great impression and forced the authorities to extend their stay with UP. Especially when they thrashed the high-profile raiding unit of Bengaluru Bulls in the previous season by fetching 22 tackle points consisting of six successful Super Tackles against them.
The deadly corner defensive duo of the skipper Nitesh Kumar and Sumit Sangwan is the heart of this side. The Services right-corner defender Nitesh is widely regarded as the modern-day great in that position for his PKL heroics with this franchise. Meanwhile, his partner Sumit is on the rise ever since his debut and has emerged as their highest-scoring defender for the past two seasons.
The presence of the familiar faces Ashu Singh, Shubham Baliyan and Gurdeep Sangwan strengthens their cover defense department to the fullest. The local boy Ashu has shown immense consistency on the right cover position with his own playstyle of being calm and composed. Jasveer Singh also has adequate backup options in the form of Jaideep Sharma and Abozar Mighani who already have a huge reputation on their back.
Foreign Knights
In a turn of surprising events, the Yoddhas management decided not to retain Mohammad Taghi who impressed everyone with his all-round skills in limited opportunities. It seemed like the Iranian raiding all-rounder belonged to this stage and will return to India for the upcoming season but UP had different plans.
UP extended the stay of the Kenyan star James Kamweti who will be seen donning the Red and Blue colours once again. He became the first-ever African-origin signing of the Yoddhas when he arrived at the UP franchise as a replacement for Masud Karima who got injured midway through the pre-season camp. Kamweti rose to fame in the international circuit when he finished the Bangabandhu Kabaddi Cup 2021 as the second-highest raid points scorer with 55 points from just six games.
The second foreign signing of the UPY is a big name who has already appeared in the grand finale round PKL in his debut season. The left-corner defender Abozar Mighani’s services were acquired by the Uttar Pradesh-based outfit for a base price of 20 Lac. UP is going to be the fourth destination for the 33-year-old Iranian after having played for Gujarat Giants, Telugu Titans and Bengal Warriors before.
NYP Trump Cards
The UP Yoddha side is known for producing home-grown talents through their developmental side which participates in domestic competitions such as the All India Kabaddi Championship. Retention news of the youngster Rohit Tomar did not come as a surprise as the move was already a speculated one. The local lad has represented UP state at Khelo India Youth Games and Junior Kabaddi Nationals and also works for the Indian Navy along with Nitin Tomar.
Along with Shrikant Jadhav and Surender Gill, Shubham Baliyan was another UPY star who won the bronze medal with Goa at 69th Senior National Championship. In his very first season with the Yoddhas, Shubham became their first-choice option for the left-cover position. He has been part of India’s junior national camp several times and will be facing tough competition from Gurdeep Sangwan for the designated position.
Apart from them, the Services raider Aman Hooda and the defensive all-rounder Nitin Panwar are also among the four NYPs who are retained by the franchise. The newly nominated NYP batch features the names of three raiders, Durgesh Netam, Mahipal and Anil Kumar. Durgesh has made his way to the PKL all the way from Chhattisgarh after winning the historic bronze medal triumph with Dr CV Raman University at Khelo India University Games 2022.
Strongest Starting Seven
Pardeep Narwal (Raider), Surender Gill (Raider), Nitin Tomar (Raider), Shubham Baliyan (Left Cover), Ashu Singh (Right Cover), Sumit Sangwan (Left Corner), Nitesh Kumar (Right Corner)