PKL 12: Bengal Warriorz coach Naveen Kumar drops big hint about their strategy against Haryana Steelers: Exclusive

Bengal Warriorz have created a young yet strong lineup for the PKL 12.

The Pro Kabaddi League 12 (PKL 12) is set to commence on Friday, August 29, 2025, and the teams are in the final stages of their preparation. The battle for the upcoming season began a few months ago, when the teams picked their best combinations in the PKL 12 auction. Now, the teams are busy conducting their concluding practice sessions.

Bengal Warriorz had an underwhelming season 11, and they have made substantial changes to their team to get a better result in PKL 12. The Warriorz released their previous head coach, Prashant Surve, and appointed Naveen Kumar as their head coach.

Moreover, the management made some significant decisions in the auction and has assembled a young and energetic squad. Naveen Kumar took some time out of his busy schedule and talked with Khel Now ahead of PKL 12. Here’s what he said:

Rate the Bengal Warriorz’s camp sessions

Naveen Kumar seemed very happy with the preparations of his team for the upcoming season, as he informed-

“This is our second camp after the auction, and both of them went pretty well. As we have a young set of players, everyone takes the utmost interest in the training sessions, and the players are playing with a good sense of combinations during training. So, I would say the camp is going on perfectly.”

Thoughts on the NYPs and the standout NYP of the team?

The coach believes that the young players on the team have much potential. He is ready to get the best out of them in the upcoming season.

While talking about the NYPs, Kumar said, “According to me, all the NYPs of my team are going to be stars in the upcoming seasons. We have elected NYPs who are exceptionally skilled and are improving with every session.”

Also Read: PKL 12: Devank Dalal sends message to Haryana Steelers ahead of their clash: Exclusive

Talking about specific players who he thinks will leave a strong impression this season, Kumar said, “Sandeep, Manpreet, and Punit are all young players, and they have proved their worth in the Yuva series as well. We made our team and sent them to compete in the Yuva series, and they did very well there. I am sure they will definitely prove themselves in the PKL as well.”

Any backup plans for Devank Dalal

Yes, sure. See, Devank Dalal is a good raider, a star raider. He gave a stunning performance in the previous season, and we picked him based on that. Yes, we indeed spent a massive amount of our purse on him, and we didn’t have much left for other players in the auction, but it was all part of the plan. We knew we had the second and third raiders with us already, and we wanted a big raider, and that’s what we did.

Strategies for the opening match, which is against the defending champions

Although Bengal Warriorz’s head coach didn’t reveal much, he gave a hint of how they want to tackle the defending champions, Haryana Steelers.

While talking about their first match, he said, “See, this will be our first match, and it will be the defending champions against us, so we have prepared ourselves pretty well. We have made some strategies, refined our techniques, and made tactics, which we will demonstrate during the match. I am sure our team will play well.”

Elaborating a little about the matchups against Haryana Steelers, Kumar said, “See, they have Shivam Patare and Vinay Tewatia, and we have Mayur, Nitesh, and Manjeet, who have been playing together since last year, and they know each other pretty well.”

“Yes, they have added Naveen to their team, but to answer that, we have Devank. This will be a nice competition between the raiders. We have planned well how to tackle Naveen and Shivam, so we are constantly working on that,” he added.

Message for the fans

We have built a new team. All the players we have are young. This team is not made just for one season, but for the seasons to come. The squad might not have any big names, but all the players we have selected are extremely talented and will make a mark this season. I would appeal to the fans to support us.

For more updates, follow Khel Now Kabaddi on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.