PKL 11: Pardeep Narwal appointed as captain of Bengaluru Bulls
Nitin Rawal and Saurabh Nandal have been announced as the vice-captains for PKL 11.
The Bengaluru Bulls have announced Pardeep Narwal, the most prolific raider in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League, as the captain for the eleventh edition of the tournament. While, the corner duo of Saurabh Nandal and Nitin Rawal have been announced as the vice-captains.
Bengaluru Bulls will be playing the opening fixture on October 18, against Pawan Sehrawat’s Telugu Titans. Having made some exciting buys in the form of Pardeep, Nitin, Ajinkya Pawar and Jai Bhagwan, they would be looking to improve upon their eighth-place finish in the previous season.
Pardeep Narwal is back where it all started
Pardeep sits right at the top in the list of most raid points. He has a whopping tally of 1690 raid points in 170 matches. Having won the title thrice with the Patna Pirates, the 27-year-old has not played according to the lofty standards set by him in the previous few seasons. Plying his trade for the UP Yoddhas, he could just muster up 122 raid points in 17 matches and was expectedly released before the auction.
The Dubki King was picked by the Bengaluru-based franchisee for a price of Rs. 70 lakhs. Interestingly, Pardeep is back in the same team where it all started, with coach Randhir Singh Sehrawat having scouted him and handed him a PKL debut in season 2. With Sehrawat having promised that Pardeep will be making a major comeback this season, all eyes will be on the lad from Sonipat once again.
The leadership group also consists of two experienced campaigners in the form of Saurabh Nandal and Nitin Rawal: the vice-captains of the team for the upcoming edition.
Nandal started his PKL career with the Bulls in season 7 and his stocks have risen ever since. He made an impression in his debut season, with a 56 tackle points. He further raised his game in the next two seasons, scoring 69 and 72 tackle points. However, the 24-year-old from Rohtak endured a dip last year, scoring 49 tackle points.
With the famed duo of Nandal and Aman Antil not having performed as per expectations last time, the Bulls secured the services of a new left corner, in the form of Nitin Rawal, at his base price of Rs. 13 lakhs. The 28-year-old from Panipat is a utility player, with his all-round skills having been of great use to all the teams he has played for.
He made his debut for the Jaipur Pink Panthers in season 5, scoring 65 raid points and 20 tackle points. In his entire PKL career, he has scored 142 raid points and 94 tackle points. Rawal was snapped up by the Bengal Warriors for the previous edition. However, he was ruled out of the entire season due to a knee injury. Set to don the red and black of the Bengaluru Bulls this time, the lad from Panipat will be looking to make up for lost time.
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