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The two-time runners-up of the Pro Kabaddi League, Gujarat Fortune Giants could not make it to the final of the tournament this year as some lacklustre performances from the young brigade prevented Manpreet Singh's army from reaching the playoffs.
Gujarat Fortune Giants had surprised everyone by reaching the final of both the previous editions. Since they had fallen short on both occasions, the fans expected them to improve their game and finally lift the trophy this year. However, the Ahmedabad-based franchise fell short of expectations in Pro Kabaddi 2019.
There were multiple reasons behind the failure of Gujarat Fortune Giants. Their marquee raiders could not play up to the mark while the corner defenders were too inexperienced to stay calm in tense situations.
The team management of Gujarat Fortune Giants will definitely look to alter their team combination ahead of the next season and here are the 3 players they may release before PKL 2020 -
#3 Abolfazl Maghsoudlou
Matches - 6, Raid Points - 5, Average Raid Points/Match - 0.83
The Iranian raider, Abolfazl Maghsoudlou was majorly used as a substitute raider by the Gujarat Fortune Giants but even in the limited opportunities that he received, Maghsoudlou could not impress the fans.
He ended the season with just 5 raid points in 6 matches. His average was even lesser than 1 raid point per match. Also, this was the first time since Pro Kabaddi Season 3 that the Iran-based player ended the tournament with less than 25 points.
Maghsoudlou could not contribute anything in the defence as well thus, there is no reason why the Gujarat Fortune Giants should retain his services for the next season of PKL.
#2 Sumit
Matches - 15, Tackle Points - 15, High 5s - 0
As mentioned before in the article, the inexperience of the corner defenders cost Gujarat Fortune Giants dearly in this season and Sumit was one of the many players that Manpreet Singh tried at the corner position.
Playing as the left corner defender, Sumit scored just 15 tackle points in 15 matches at an average of 1 tackle point per match. Being one of the main defenders of the team, the youngster had the responsibility of troubling the opposition raiders with his tackling skills. However, it never happened. His tackle strike rate was less than 50 which shows how sloppy he was in the defensive unit.
Gujarat Fortune Giants have a history of having stellar corner defenders. Once upon a time, they had the Iranian pair of Abozar Mighani and Fazel Atrachali guarding their corner positions. However, looking at how the corner defenders fared this season, Gujarat will look to release them ahead of the next season.
While the other defenders still have a chance of being retained by the team, the possibilities that Gujarat keep Sumit in the squad are very low.
#1 Sachin Tanwar
Matches - 16, Raid Points - 84, Average Raid Points/Match - 5.25
Sachin Tanwar had been the lead raider for Gujarat Fortune Giants in the fifth and the sixth editions of the Pro Kabaddi League. The Rajasthan-born raider had played an integral role in the success that Gujarat achieved and it won't be an understatement to say that his below-par performances played a big role in Gujarat's ouster this year.
He played 16 matches in Pro Kabaddi 2019 where he scored just 84 raid points at a lowly average of 5.25 raid points per match. While these are good numbers for a secondary raider, Tanwar was supposed to lead the Gujarat raiding attack from the front.
Given that he had scored 204 points in the previous season, the fans expected him to compete with the likes of Pawan Sehrawat, Pardeep Narwal and Naveen Kumar this year. However, he could manage to score only a single Super 10 in the entire season. Besides, his successful raid percentage fell below 50 for the first time this year.
Thus, the franchise may look to end their association with Tanwar and build the team around Rohit Gulia next year.
