Naveen Kumar, Ankush lead star-studded Team of the Week for PKL 9 GW 8

Many new players make the cut into the list.

Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 9 is just a week and a half away from the playoffs with the battle for the top 6 spots still on. 11 teams are still in contention with a maximum of four matches still to be played to decide the top 6 spots. Jaipur Pink Panthers moved ahead to the top spot replacing Puneri Paltan after defeating Bengaluru Bulls in a one-sided contest.

Here we take a look at which players make Khel Now’s Team of the Week (TOTW) for Gameweek 8 of PKL 9.

Ankush (Left Corner)

Ankush has been an excellent find by the Jaipur franchise replacing the experienced Sandeep Dhull in the left-corner position. In the last three matches, Ankush has scored 16 tackle points at an average of five per match. The defender currently holds the most number of tackle points (71) and is six points clear of Chiyaneh with 65 tackle points.

Rinku (Right Corner)

Rinku after taking over the captaincy has not had much success losing four out of the last five matches. The right-corner defender though has not let his performance go down getting into the top 5 list on the tackle points list with 53 points. Playing in just his second PKL season, Rinku is the youngest to captain a PKL side and with Surender Singh back to full fitness Rinku shall look to show his full potential in the remaining four matches.

Parvesh Bainswal (Left Cover)

The left-cover defender has been in good form of late for the southern side Telugu Titans in PKL 9. He along with Vishal Bharadwaj has been the lone warrior fighting out in the defence in the absence of stand-in captain Surjeet Singh. Parvesh Bainswal’s good form came at the wrong time with the franchise out of the playoffs contention race but can build up confidence going into season 10.

Gurdeep Singh (Right Cover)

The right-cover defender has been playing well and has scored seven tackle points in the last two matches. Gurdeep has stepped up at a crucial time in the absence of Ashu’s form who at the start was in excellent form. With the corner duo of Nitesh and Sumit getting back to their best, Gurdeep can play without much pressure and play according to the situation.

Arjun Deshwal (Right In)

The primary raider from Jaipur Pink Panthers has featured maximum times in the team of the week list and is the most consistent raider for the franchise. After becoming the first raider to cross the 200 raid points mark he is closing in the gap to reach the 300 mark and currently occupies the top spot with 242 points in the raiders list with 15 super 10s. He has scored three successive super 10s in the past week which has enabled Jaipur to take the top spot.

Parteek Dahiya (Left In)

Parteek Dahiya is featuring for the first time in the team of the week playing just his first season in the PKL 9 for Gujarat Giants. He took over as the lead raider for Gujarat at a crucial time when Rakesh Kumar failed to live up to the expectations. Parteek has been the find of the season for the western side scoring 131 raid points in 15 matches.

Naveen Kumar (Centre)

After a sudden dip in form Naveen “Express” has bounced back strongly scoring 37 raid points in the last three matches. Overall the star raider has scored 14 super 10 the second most this season after Arjun Deshwal. He helped Dabang Delhi KC  come from behind and avenge a tie against Tamil Thalaivas after trailing by 5 points in the last three minutes.