PKL 9: Star defender Vishal Mane joins U Mumba for PKL 9

The veteran debuted in Pro Kabaddi with the U Mumba side in season 1.

Some surprising decisions were made in the recently concluded Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) auction. On one hand, where players like Pawan Sehrawat and Vikash Khandola went for crores, some great Kabaddi players remained unsold. One of them was Vishal Mane who remained unsold in the auction, which surprised many. However, U Mumba has now picked Vishal Mane in the squad. The franchise informed this news via their social media handle.

This has been a third signing for the teams after the auction. Earlier, Patna Pirates added Suresh Hegde and Akshay Bodake to its team.

Vishal Mane is one of the experienced players in the PKL

Star player Vishal Mane is one of the few active players who have been involved in the PKL since its inception. He played for the same team as U Mumba in his first three seasons before moving to the Bengal Warriors in 2016. Mane moved to Patna Pirates in the fifth season and played for Dabang Delhi in the sixth and seventh seasons. However, Mane moved to his old franchise, Bangal Warriors, in the previous edition.

Undoubtedly, Vishal Mane is one of the most experienced players in the league, having played 134 games. He scored 202 tackle points overall. Mane had a disappointing last two seasons, with just 32 tackle points. PKL 7 was a disaster for him as he could only score 27 tackle points in 23 matches. He will be looking to come back in form this season. It would be interesting to see how U Mumba would use his services, especially having defenders like Surender Singh, Harender Kumar, and Rinku already a part of the squad.