Pardeep Narwal will make major comeback in PKL 11, promises Bengaluru Bulls coach

Coach also gave insights into the strategy of buying Pardeep Narwal and strategies adopted by him, in the lead-up to the auctions.

Randhir Sehrawat is one name who needs no introduction in the world of kabaddi. He is currently one of the most revered coaches in the game. In fact, a number of coaches in the Pro Kabaddi League, including the likes of Sanjeev Baliyan, Dharmaraj Cheralathan and Joginder Narwal have played under him previously.

Sehrawat has had a bird’s eye view of the league, right from its nascent stages. He is the only person to have coached a single team- the Bengaluru Bulls, for all of the ten editions of the league, a consequence of the mutual respect between him and the franchisee.

The coach, who has had success outside of the PKL too, having coached both the Men’s and Women’s Indian Railways teams to multiple gold medals at the National Championships, is known to have a penchant of creating stars in the league, rather than buying them. One of the biggest examples is Pawan Sehrawat. The raider, who is one of the biggest names in kabaddi currently, was first bought by the Bulls in season three. After a few lean seasons, he got his breakthrough in the sixth edition, where he was named the Most Valuable Player and more importantly, led the Bengaluru-based team to their first-ever title. His career trajectory has been on an upward rise ever since.

When Pawan left the team, Bharat Hooda, who was bought as a New Young Player (NYP) in season eight, gave a sensational performance next season, ending second in the list of most raid points. With him having moved to UP Yoddhas, the Bulls made eye-catching bids for some exciting youngsters, shelling out whopping sums of Rs. 1.107 Cr for Ajinkya Pawar and Rs. 63 lakhs for Jai Bhagwan.

The coach spoke about the potential candidates, who could be superstars by the end of the season. “It can be Jai Bhagwan. He was the best player at the Nationals recently. Ajinkya Pawar got 124 points in 21 matches, last season. Mark my words, he will put in even better performances this time. You can hold me to my word- I believe in taking up challenges and I learn from them.”

“I have a different strategy. I start three months in advance. I don’t go to major Junior tournaments or Nationals alone; I go to different villages. I have gone to villages in Maharashtra, Karnataka and even Kanyakumari. Otherwise, how will those, who couldn’t play in the Nationals or in major junior tournaments, get their chance?

The highlight, though, has to be the buy of the most prolific raider in the league’s history- Pardeep Narwal. He has scored a staggering tally of 1690 raid points. While many know that he won three consecutive titles with the Patna Pirates, few know that he made his debut for the Bengaluru Bulls in season two.

The reason for this fact being lesser-known is justified by the stats: he scored just nine points in six matches. However, the Pirates did spot the spark in the raider and secured his services for the next season. Rest, as they say, is history.

The raider from Sonipat, Haryana moved to the UP Yoddhas in season 8. In his first two seasons for his new team, he wasn’t below par, but he wasn’t able to deliver the same numbers he had at Patna.

Season 10, however, proved to be very painful for him, as he could only muster 122 raid points in 17 matches. In fact, he was eventually played as a substitute in a number of matches. Expectedly, Pardeep Narwal was released before the auctions for the upcoming season.

Why Randhir Singh Sehrawat brought Pardeep Narwal in the auction?

The Bulls ensured a homecoming and re-secured the services of the ‘Dubki King’ at a price of Rs. 70 lakhs. Clearly, for coach Sehrawat, this was one of the moments of the auction too.

“What makes me happiest is that, although two of my kids Pawan and Bharat Hooda are no longer in the franchise, another kid of mine, Pardeep Narwal, who got his recognition from the Bengaluru Bulls, is back. When I had brought him from the Junior and Senior Nationals, he was completely unknown. Now he is a star, number one in the list of raid points.”

“His morale has been down for the last two years. There are many reasons, including not being awarded the Arjuna Award. I have bought Pardeep Narwal now and you will now see a massive change from his performance last year. When the season starts, you will see how I have upped his morale.”

Many pundits feel that the Bulls have taken a number of risky decisions at the table. There were eyeballs cast on a number of buys, due to the unpredictability as well as lack of form of some of these players.

Coach Sehrawat, however, was confident of the work done by him and his team. He justified the decisions, by giving insights into the strategy adopted by him.

“For the last forty days, I have been keeping a watch on Ajinkya Pawar. I have been hiding and watching Pardeep Narwal train as recently as five or six days ago. This is to make sure the player is fit and not carrying any injuries. If I make an appearance in front of the players, I won’t get to see the reality. Hence, I have been sitting in my car and watching them practice.”

“All have their own strategies; I have my own. I have been the only coach to have started in season one and still survived. If you see, in the end, neither do we have too much money remaining nor do we finish the purse. I am generally the first to finish my team. I make a balanced team. I don’t discriminate based on any grounds. A player is only selected on his merit. Remaining is dependent on God.”

The Bulls also created history at the auction by securing the services of Thai players, a first in PKL history. They, in fact, didn’t buy one, but two Thai players: defender Hasun Thongkruea and raider Pramot Saising.

Sehrawat addressed the need to spread the popularity of the sport. “I want kabaddi to spread far and wide. The sport should not be limited to Iran or India alone. We have had players from Poland, Nepal and Bangladesh previously. I keep buying players from different countries. I want them to take a few learnings from me in these two months and share them with their countrymen on returning.”

“Kabaddi is India’s own sport. The more its popularity spreads, the better it is. This sport is played in India from Kashmir in the North, to Kanyakumari in the South. We have different champions every time: Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal etc. The sport is not dominated by one state alone.”

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