PKL 9: What is the secret to the Puneri Paltan's success in PKL season 9?

The Fazel Atrachali-led team is currently at the top of the table.

Puneri Paltan are the first team in Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 9 to qualify for the playoffs winning 12 out of the 19 matches played to date. The process for this started in the last season itself with their scouting team bringing in youngsters and forming a team around them.

Anup Kumar was the coach for Puneri Paltan last season and the veteran introduced a dashing raider Aslam Inamdar who was the primary raider in his debut season. Along with Aslam, the introduction of Mohit Goyat, Akash Shinde, and Pankaj Mohite has made Puneri Paltan raiding look inevitable.

Apart from captain Fazel Atrachali and Nabibaksh almost all the players who have played this season are below the age of 24. The players were given time in the last season to experience the league and this time the players have put in a great show with combined team effort.

Aslam Inamdar 

Raid - 132 points, Tackle - 12 points 

Mohit Goyat

Raid - 120 points, Tackle - 17 points

Akash Shinde

Raid - 93 points, Tackle - 2 points

Note

Akash Shinde was first brought into the playing 7 only when Aslam Inamdar got injured. He took full advantage of this and proved his ability by scoring super 10s. After the comeback of Aslam, the team went ahead with Akash Shinde, and the trio of Aslam, Mohit, and Akash worked pretty well.

Role of Fazel Athrachali

Fazel “Sultan” Atrachali recently became the most successful captain in the PKL overtaking Anup Kumar’s record. In the past, Fazel was the captain of U Mumba and we have seen how well he led the side along with grooming players like Abhishek Singh and Ajith Kumar. After a breakthrough season with Tamil Thalaivas, Ajith showed his capability under the leadership of Fazel and in season 9 he was brought in for a whopping 66 lakhs.

Similarly this season Fazel Atrachali has taken care of the trio of raiders and has kept the match under check. Puneri Paltan out of the four matches overall, two losses came in the first three encounters. The Iranian arrived at the league after a visa issue. Fazel wasted no time in settling down the unit and brought in the best from all the players.

Auction Strategy

Puneri Paltan came up with a clear plan for the auction strategy and that was to buy two quality foreigners as the Indian core was already set from the previous season. The strategy worked out pretty well and the management was successful in buying the best foreign all-rounder and defender. Nabibaksh did not turn out to be effective enough but made a few crucial contributions in the defence.

Also, the team was comfortable with the backup options. As mentioned earlier if Aslam gets injured Akash Shinde takes over the responsibility. If suppose one of the trio raiders fails to perform there is Pankaj Mohite waiting for his opportunities. Mohite is considered to be one of the bright talents but isn't able to get enough game time due to a settled playing 7.

With Aslam and Mohit Goyat performing the duties of defence as well. This made the likes of Nabibaksh to sit out of the playing 7 which shows how strong a unit is Puneri Paltan. Nabibaksh was the key all-rounder for Bengal Warriors in their title run in season 6 but he hasn't been in the same touch this season forcing the coach to try out another combination which has worked out.