PKL 12: Gujarat Giants star raider ruled out due to injury; Replacement announced

Mohammadreza Shadloui-led Gujarat Giants have had a roller-coaster campaign in PKL 12 so far.

Gujarat Giants have had a poor campaign so far in Pro Kabaddi League Season 12 (PKL 12). The Giants are placed 11th in the PKL 2025 standings with two points and a score difference of -13 from four encounters, including one win and three losses.

They lost their season opener in a tie-breaker against U Mumba after the full-time score read 29-29. The Gujarat-based franchise secured a 41-19 loss to Puneri Paltan, before registering their first victory of the season against Tamil Thaliavas with a scoreline of 37-28.

They suffered a narrow defeat against the Jaipur Pink Panthers in their latest encounter, with the final score reading 30-30. With neither team picking up any points in the tie-break, the match headed into the gold raid, where the Pink Panthers claimed the victory and two points.

V. Ajith Kumar ruled out; Aryavardhan Navale joins

Gujarat Giants have suffered a massive blow as their raider, V. Ajith Kumar, has been ruled out of the remainder of the PKL season.

He was roped in by the two-time PKL finalists for INR 36.30 lacs at the PKL 12 Player Auction. The Indian raider earned one point from a couple of matches before sustaining an injury, keeping him out of action for the rest of the campaign.

Ajith earned zero points from three raids against U Mumba and failed to make a difference in the five raids he put against Paltan, too. He secured his only point this season from a tackle on Stuwart Singh against the Pune-based franchise.

Young raider Aryavardhan Navale has replaced Ajith in the Gujarat Giants’ squad for the rest of the season. 

“Navale replaces V. Ajith Kumar, who won’t be with us for the rest of the season due to injury,” Gujarat Giants posted on social media.

In the previous season, Navale earned 45 raid points in 68 raids across 13 matches with the Puneri Paltan. He played his first match for the Giants against the Jaipur Pink Panthers on Tuesday and returned with four points (three touch points and one tackle point) from 10 days.

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