Puneri Paltan is one of two Pro Kabaddi League franchises from the Indian state of Maharashtra. The team, masterminded by Ramesh BC, will be led by Deepak Niwas Hooda in PKL 5. After two dismal seasons in the Pro Kabaddi League, where they were left languishing at the bottom of the table, the injection of stars led to a 3rd place finish for the Paltan in each of the last 2 seasons.
Puneri Paltan has given us some thrilling encounters in season 3, where 9 out of their 16 matches were decided by a margin of 5 points or under. In season 4, Puneri Paltan qualified for the PKL knockout stages by winning just 6 matches. They also handed U Mumba their first defeat during the league stages.
With Deepak Niwas Hooda captaining the side, the team is further fortified with experienced campaigners like Sandeep Narwal, Dharmaraj Cheralathan, Rajesh Mondal while, Rohit Kumar Chaudhary and Girish Ernak will be hoping for a breakthrough season.
Captain: Deepak Niwas Hooda
Having been retained ahead of superstars like Ajay Thakur and Manjeet Chhillar, Deepak Hooda will have a huge role to play if Puneri Paltan hope to replicate successes of the previous 2 PKL seasons. A raiding all-rounder, Deepak Hooda is adept at the left cover position as well. He was utilised as a raider in PKL 4 scoring 126 raid points which included 2 Super 10s.
He was a vital cog in the Paltan’s successful run during PKL 4, accruing the most raid points for the Pune franchise at an average of 7.88 raid point with strike rate of 45.48.
Coach: Ramesh BC
The former coach of the Karnataka state kabaddi team, a gold medal winner with the Indian national kabaddi team, an Arjuna awardee and winner of multiple medals and mementoes will be the handling the Puneri Paltan squad in PKL 5. Having spearheaded the Bengaluru Bulls Kabaddi Academy and having coached the Bengal Warriors in PKL 2, he is not short on PKL experience and seems to be the apt person to organise and coach a team full of superstars and youngsters.
Squad Profile
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Strength: Strong Defence
Pune are one of the most experienced and complete defensive sides, possessing the likes of Sandeep Narwal, Dharmaraj Cheralathan, Girish Ernak and Ravi Kumar in the Pro Kabaddi League. They are the only team to have 3 defenders with more than 100 career tackle points in the PKL. Deepak Hooda is capable of single-handedly winning matches. He scored 126 raid points in PKL 4.
Weakness: Lack of a Back-up Raider
Deepak Hooda is their primary raider, but his deputies aren’t many. Rajesh Mondal has scored more than 50 raid points in only 1 out of 4 PKL editions, while Rohit Kumar Chaudhary has been inconsistent, scoring 61 raid points in PKL 2, but managing just 16 in PKL 3.
Opportunity: Rajesh Mondal and Girish Ernak
Mondal was mainly used as a Do-or-Die raider for Patna in PKLs 3 and 4, but will get more opportunities to prove his quality. Girish Ernak has shown flashes of brilliance, but has struggled for consistency: With the vastly experienced Dharmaraj Cheralathan as his team mate, this might be the season where Ernak delivers on his promise.
Threat: Cover Defending
Puneri Paltan’s cover defence is a concern. Ravi Kumar, after a bright start in PKL 2 where he managed 37 tackle points, has managed just 9 in two subsequent seasons, combined. Dharmaraj Cheralathan & Sandeep Narwal are better utilised in corner positions. Deepak Hooda, an adept cover defender, will mainly be used as a raider which leaves the cover positions a little thin.
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