PKL 11: Top five retained raiders before auction

A lot of young raiders have been retained by various franchises for PKL 11.

The 11th season of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL 11) is officially underway as the organizers have scheduled the Auction on Aug 15 & 16. The first part of the preseason preparations for teams is the player auction and teams have announced their retention list recently with few surprises. Successful teams from season 10 have retained a larger core.

The bottom-placed teams have let go of some of the big names to rebuild their team in the auction ahead of the Pro Kabaddi League which will be entering its second decade. The Auction has been full of action with players’ pay cheques on the rise. Especially the raiders, who are a joy to watch with their pyrotechnics. Knowing this some of the teams have retained their key raiders and let’s take a look at the top five raiders who have stayed with their old teams.

5. Narender Kandola

Tamil Thalaivas have never qualified for the playoffs until the 2022-23 season. It was in PKL 9 that they made it to the playoffs, thanks to Narender Kandola who scored 249 points in 23 matches. He was awarded the Best Young Player award in his debut season.

He continued the good run with 195 points last season. With Udaya Kumar back in the coaching chair, Narender has been retained and will be expected to perform well for the men in yellow to take their team to the playoffs again.

4. Mohit Goyat

Mohit Goyat will be with the Puneri Paltans for the fourth season in running. The raider came into the Paltan’s set-up in 2021 after an impressive show in the National Championship helping Haryana win the Bronze medal.

Three years later he helped both Pune and Haryana win PKL and National Championship respectively. He has been entrusted by coach BC Ramesh for season 11 to play for the Paltans and will be vying for yet another championship.

3. Ashu Malik

Every season will see a player revealing himself and season 10 was all about Ashu Malik. After Naveen Kumar was ruled out due to an injury, many thought Dabang Delhi might not play it to the playoffs. But Ashu Malik had other ideas as he carried his team single-handedly to the playoffs.

He also took over the reins of captaincy and handled it extremely well. He is every coach’s dream and Joginder Narwal was in no mood to give him to another team.

2. Naveen Kumar

Naveen Kumar will again be heading to the franchise from the nation’s capital. He has been synonymous with the story of Dabang Delhi ever since he stepped onto the PKL scene. The 24-year-old will be in blue and red for the sixth time in the history of the league. Naveen won the Most Valuable Player award twice, including a season-winning performance in season eight. Having missed out on the previous season due to injury, Naveen Express is ready to travel full season.

1. Arjun Deshwal

It is a no-brainer that Arjun Deshwal has been retained by the Jaipur Pink Panthers for PKL 11. Named “The Raid Machine,” he has been sensational ever since he became a Panther. The Men in Pink won their second PKL title with Arjun at the helm. In the three seasons with the inaugural champions, Arjun has scored 250+ points in each season and his retention will be an expectation for him to repeat the feat.

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