Losing Atracheli a blessing in disguise, says Dabang Delhi coach Krishan Kumar Hooda

The experienced tactician gave an insight into the team’s preparations for the upcoming season.

When it comes to coaches in the Pro Kabaddi League, then few figures outshine the immaculate Krishan Kumar Hooda. He is a veteran in the sport of kabaddi and holds a lot of respect due to his contribution to the game. Last year, he was an essential part of the Dabang Delhi side that won their first PKL title.

Under his expert guidance, players like Naveen Kumar, Vijay Malik and more became household names. He is a recipient of the prestigious Dronacharya award and continues to play a key role in the growth of kabaddi as a sport in the country. 

The upcoming season will be vital for Dabang Delhi as they are the reigning champions. In order to defend their title, the franchise will rely on the expertise of Krishan Hooda. The tactician recently took part in an exclusive interview with Khel Now and here is what he had to say during an insightful conversation:

https://youtu.be/wPhoElnXfFo

Strategy Behind Retaining Players

Dabang Delhi were quick to retain players ahead of the auction who were strong performers last term. Speaking on their strategy, Hooda said, “Naveen ‘Express’ is a fantastic player who made his name with Dabang Delhi. He carries the raiding department of the team and I was of the opinion that Vijay is a bold player. Both players, the right raider and left raider have good chemistry between them. Why would we not want to retain these players? It was essential for us to keep these players who are gaining national interest.”

“These players will perform better than last season and they are practicing hard to exceed the expectations of the fans. The other retainers like Ashu Malik and Krishan Dhull are important to our team. They will deliver results in the new season,” he continued.

On New Young Players

The category of New Young Players (NYP) is an exciting one as it introduces budding players to the competition. Talking about the newcomers into the Dabang Delhi fold, the coach stated, “The NYP that are joining the team this time, are even better than the NYP players from last season. Ashish Narwal has a good track record, Vijay Kumar is a good player in the left corner and lastly, Manjeet got praise last time and will give a good result. Dabang Delhi team has already started preparing so well at their respective centres and I am in contact with all of them. We have five raiders and even I do not know who will be part of the starters. 

“We will introduce NYP players that will be crucial to Indian kabaddi. We love Naveen Kumar who was a former NYP and we care about his career. The Dabang Delhi team keeps him motivated and does not let the pressure of the injury stress him,” he revealed while praising the star raider.

Staying Humble

Krishan Kumar Hooda recalls the return of the Indian contingent from the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham and makes a point about how the focus should be on staying humble in the face of achieving success. He said, “I was reading the Prime Minister’s interaction with Vinesh Phogat and therein it was said that we should not let winning take control of our mindset and make us overconfident.

"At the same time, we should not take a loss to heart as it can lead to depression and other mental health issues. So that is what I advocate. Our team will step on the mat and win everyone’s hearts. Everyone will be happy to see Delhi back in action with their performance.”

Player preference In Season 9 auction

Krishan Hooda gives an interesting insight into the approach of any franchise before the mega auction in the PKL. He said, “I will not talk about any specific player, but it has been eight years and every franchise knows the players that are disciplined. Those that give consistent performances and listen to the instructions while playing matches will get more attention. No matter how good a player is but if he is not compatible with the squad, then the franchise’s performance gets affected.”

“As a result, all the disciplined players got more attention. The time keeps changing for players and the others are coming into notice. Players like Pawan Sehrawat and Guman among others gave good performance last season and hence everyone is paying attention to them. A franchise observes last year’s performance before making a decision on its approach,” the coach further said.

Chasing Fazal Atrachali

Fazal Atrachali was sold for ₹1.38 crore to Puneri Paltan, becoming the third-most expensive player in season 9’s auction. Dabang Delhi were interested in the player and Krishan Hooda explained their chase for him by saying, “He is a senior player and the team has Vijay and Naveen as the most senior players. Our strategy (between different franchises) sometimes clashes. Sometimes luck plays its course and we did not think Atrachali will go for such a high amount in the auction. I was also trying to go for the player.” 

“I wanted one of Atrachali or Sandeep Dhull who is also one of the best defenders. He will make a name for himself and leave a mark in his team in future. His past performances have been impressive and will perform on the levels of Atrachali. He will certainly wear the orange sleeve again in the upcoming season. I assure you that Dabang Delhi will produce even more stars next season and each individual will impress,” the coach asserted in a hopeful tone.

Successful Auction

In the end, Krishan Kumar Hooda was satisfied with the outcome of the auction. He said, “Our strategy was 100% successful. We got the players that we wanted in the end according to our planning. We were successful in getting players in the correct areas. Losing out on Fazel Atrachali is also a blessing in disguise. If we had bought the player in the auction, I could not have signed more players with a smaller purse.”

Opinion on Tejas Patil

Towards the end of the conversation, the veteran coach talked about young players like Tejas Patil and the composition of the team for PKL 9. He noted, “I saw his (Patil) videos and decided that we would give this young junior player a chance. We are hoping he will impress with his performances. Apart from him, there are a few other young players coming in. Talking about them right now will be a little early but these players and their performance will speak for themselves.”

“My team is very young and has heavy raiders like Naveen and Vijay. They won us the trophy last year and the whole team contributed to the win. Both Manjeet and Jeeva have become coaches from that team. Seniors and juniors came together to help us to the title. This time, we have a good combination of old and new players that will surely be impressive in the new season,” Hooda concluded.