PKL 12: Puneri Paltan appoint Ajay Thakur as new head coach

Ajay Thakur served as Puneri Paltan’s assistant coach in the previous season
On the auspicious day of Buddha Purnima, Puneri Paltan announced Ajay Thakur as their head coach ahead of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 12. Thakur previously joined the Paltan in the PKL 11 as their assistant coach. Moreover, he also played for the franchise for two seasons in his spectacular career.
As expected of him, he did a fabulous job of getting the best out of the team in the few matches he got to guide them in the previous season.
Thakur has been appointed as the head coach for the upcoming season, along with Ashok Shinde, who will play the role of a strategist in the camp. The franchise has big expectations of this duo, and they have to get straight to work as the auction is nearing.
While appointing Thakur as the assistant coach, the CEO earlier said, “We wanted to build the team for the long term, so we thought if we get Ajay early into the team and give him a long tenure, that would help us get back on the podium”.
Ajay Thakur’s stellar career

Ajay Thakur had a glorious career as a player of the Indian national team. He is an Arjuna Award and Padma Shri recipient, two of the most prestigious recognitions for any Indian sportsman.
In his brilliant career, he has won the 2014 Asian Games, 2016 Kabaddi World Cup, 2017 Asian Kabaddi Championship, 2018 Dubai Kabaddi Masters, 2007 Asian Indoor Games and 2013 Incheon Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.
He also had a fabulous Pro Kabaddi League career, he scored 794 raid points in 121 matches. He played 30 matches for Puneri Paltan in the third and fourth seasons and scored 115 raid points.
Puneri Paltan’s performance in PKL 11
Puneri Paltan had a season to forget and finished in the 8th position in PKL 11 with 9 wins, 10 losses and 3 ties. The defending champions started on a high note with Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat dominating the games.
However, Aslam’s injury left a huge void in the team, and the team finished the season in 8th place. Despite that, Pankaj Mohite, Aryavardhan Navale, and Akash Shinde were a few standout raiders. While Gaurav Khatri, Abinesh Nadarajan, and Aman were brilliant as the defenders.
It will be interesting to see how Ajay Thakur and Ashok Shinde shape up the squad for the upcoming season and how the team performs.
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