New-look Puneri Paltan take big strides despite final defeat in PKL 9

The Maharashtra-based outfit bounced back from a difficult previous campaign and were one of the more consistent teams this time around.

Puneri Paltan finished as the runners losing to Jaipur Pink Panthers in a closely contested Pro Kabaddi League PKL Season 9 final. The team were without the likes of the top two raiders (Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat) in the last few matches but still finished inside the top two in the points table and went on to reach the finals with good utilisation of the bench strength. Puneri Platan has one of the best bench strengths in season 9 consisting of youngsters. The average age of the team was the lowest (22).

Top Performers of PKL 9

1. Mohit Goyat

The raider scored 137 raid points in 17 matches in season 9 scoring more than seven raid points per match. Mohit Goyat continued from where he left off in the last season scoring points at a brisk rate. He was one of the few players from last season to be retained under the NYP category which proved to be successful. 

2. Akash Shinde

Akash Shinde rose to the occasion when Aslam Inamdar was injured in the midseason. From there on there was no looking back scoring 142 raid points in 22 matches. Akash in the playoffs took the primary raiders role but couldn't score points. Apart from that, he has had a successful season after coming in as a replacement.

3. Aslam Inamdar

After becoming the lead raider in season 8 he continued to perform in a similar fashion in season 9 as well scoring 150 points in 17 matches. Puneri Paltan couldn't make full use of Aslam which ultimately cost them the trophy. He was the only left raider providing versatility in both attack and defence. Aslam was involved in many successful tackles scoring 12 tackle points overall.

Underperformer of PKL 9

Mohammed Nabibaksh

The all-rounder from Iran was very disappointing in the league stages and was eventually left out of the playing 7 in the latter stages. Overall Nabibaksh played 15 matches scoring 34 raid points and 14 tackle points. The Iranian made up for the poor form in the playoffs and was an integral part of the team against Tamil Thalaivas scoring crucial points. The experience paid off for the all-rounder but the overall performance was below par.

Manager’s report card

Coach BC Ramesh took over the team from Anup Kumar and had an excellent season in his maiden stint. He made use of the resources pretty well giving equal opportunities to all the raiders in the team. Although Nabibaksh did not have a good season Ramesh made use of his experience which eventually paid off in the playoffs.

Lessons to be learned

The defence of Puneri Paltan especially the right corner was a cause of concern in the latter stages when Sombir failed to perform. Puneri Paltan could have made of Gaurav Khatri a bit earlier along with Sanket whose performance was also disappointing in the left cover position. A replacement for Sanket too should have been tried out which the team didn't throughout the season.