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Season seven champion, the Bengal Warriors, failed to qualify for the Pro Kabaddi 2022 playoffs.
The Kolkata-based franchise were in the race to finish in the top six until the last week of the league stage. However, a poor performance in the final few league matches led to an 11th-place finish for the Warriors.
The Bengal Warriors played 22 matches in Pro Kabaddi 2022, registering eight wins, 11 defeats and three ties.They failed to win any of their last six league matches and would have been in the playoffs had they won even two of those games.
Nevertheless, the Bengal Warriors' team management is bound to start planning for the next season. After failing to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season, the Warriors will have to make some hard calls to make.
They will have to be wise while deciding which players to retain and release before the new season. In this listicle, we will look at the four players the Bengal Warriors should retain for Pro Kabaddi 2023.
#1 Bengal Warriors captain Maninder Singh
It goes without saying that Maninder Singh is the biggest match-winner for the Bengal Warriors in Pro Kabaddi League history. 'Super-Mani' finished fourth in the Most Raid Points leaderboard of PKL 2022's league stage, scoring 238 raid points in 21 matches.
Maninder has been the most consistent performer for Bengal in the last few seasons. Shedding some more light on his numbers in PKL 2022, he recorded 14 Super 10s and executed 11 super raids. On top of that, he maintained a fantastic average of 11.18 raid points per match.
If the Bengal Warriors do not retain Maninder Singh for next season, it could end up being one of the biggest blunders in Pro Kabaddi League history.
#2 Shrikant Jadhav
Shrikant Jadhav played the secondary raider's role to perfection for the Warriors in PKL 2022. He scored 123 raid points in 21 matches, recording two Super 10s.
The Kolkata-based franchise assembled a stellar raiding trio featuring Maninder Singh, Deepak Hooda and Shrikant Jadhav. While Maninder and Jadhav did their jobs well, Hooda did not match expectations and could be released during the offseason.
#3 Girish Ernak
Veteran defender Girish Ernak returned to the Warriors squad in Pro Kabaddi 2022. He performed brilliantly in the initial matches and held the orange armband, given to the best defender of the league, for a considerable time.
Ernak's performances declined as the tournament progressed. However, he was the best defender for Bengal this season, with 51 tackle points in 18 matches. The Warriors should retain him as their left corner defender for PKL 2023.
#4 Shubham Shinde
Shubham Shinde formed a fine corner combination with Girish Ernak. Playing in the right corner position for the Warriors, Shinde earned 43 tackle points from 20 matches.
He recorded one High 5 in Pro Kabaddi 2022 in addition to executing four super tackles. It should not be a surprise if the Warriors retain their corner pair of Girish Ernak and Shubham Shinde for the next edition of the PKL.
