PKL 12: Jaipur Pink Panthers full squad list ft. Nitin Rawal

Jaipur Pink Panthers have opted for a complete revamp in PKL 12.

Inaugural Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) champions Jaipur Pink Panthers are one side who have set a very high standard for themselves in the tournament. They had an average outing last time around, huffing and puffing to sixth place on the table. They had a total of 70 points, playing out twelve wins, eight losses and two ties. However, the two-time champions were drubbed 18-46 by the UP Yoddhas in the Eliminator.

Jaipur Pink Panthers have made changes right from the top, replacing the experienced Sanjeev Kumar Baliyan, with Narender Redhu, who led the Patna Pirates to the final in the previous edition. They then opted for an overhaul of the squad.

Jaipur retained a total of six players, which include one Elite Retained Player (ERP), one Retained Young Player (RYP) and four Existing New Young Players (NYP). Going in with a massive purse of Rs. 3.30 Cr, they spent Rs. 3.23 Cr to buy a total of thirteen players. They made a number of interesting calls at the auctions, held in Mumbai on 31st May and 1st June.

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To begin with, they not only released ‘Raid Machine’ Arjun Deshwal, but also decided to use the Final Bid Match (FBM) Card on him. Rather than going hard for a marquee name, they have spent a whopping amount of Rs. 1.002 Cr to obtain the services of young Nitin Dhankar, who has shown great potential to be the lead raider at the Bengal Warriorz.

Also in their ranks is Manjeet Dahiya, who has developed the reputation of being a consistent raider but had a below-par performance with U Mumba last time. They have also spent a massive sum of Rs. 50.10 lakhs on category D raider Uday Parte. Back-ups include the experienced Meetu Sharma, Sombir and Ali Choubtarash.

The defence does have a few question marks. They managed to sign left corner Nitin Rawal, the fifth-best defender in PKL 11. Again, it is worth noting that the team strangely decided against using the FBM on the consistent Ankush Rathee at base price, but eventually got an international player at a good bargain.

With Reza Mirbagheri having been retained, the left side of the Jaipur Pink Panthers defence seems sorted. The same cannot be said about the right side, though. Ronak Singh is likely to be the right corner, while Aashish Kumar might be the right cover. Neither of them has done much worth mentioning in the league previously. The likes of Deepanshu, Mohit, Abhishek KS and Aryan could start on the bench but might get a chance later based on form and fitness.

The Jaipur Pink Panthers management has a lot to ponder about regarding the team composition at the start of the upcoming edition. However, what should give the fans a lot of hope is that the two-time champions have previously performed well with relatively unknown names. I

In fact, players like Arjun, Ankush, among others, have blossomed from rookies to stars of the sport in their course of representing the same franchise. And there is no coach better than Narender Redhu to handle an inexperienced side, considering he made the Pirates really punch above their weight in the previous edition. Can he help the two-time champions to equalise with his previous team, for the most number of titles?

Jaipur Pink Panthers squad for PKL 12:

Raiders: Sombir (Existing NYP), Ritik Sharma (Existing NYP), Nitin Kumar , Manjeet Dahiya, Ali Samadi Choubtarash, Vinay, Meetu, Uday Parte, Sahil (NYP)

Defenders: Reza Mirbagheri, Abhishek KS, Nitin Kumar (Existing NYP), Ronak Singh (Existing NYP), Aashish Kumar, Sombir (Category C), Mohit, Aryan (NYP), Sahil Deshwal (NYP), Deepanshu (NYP)

All-Rounders: Nitin Rawal

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