Pro Kabaddi 2019: 3 players Patna Pirates may release before next season

The three-time champions, Patna Pirates disappointed their huge fan base by crashing out of Pro Kabaddi 2019 in the league round itself. The Patna-based franchise did not make it to the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Pardeep Narwal led the team from the front once again but, as always, he did not get the back of other players. The team management had done a solid job in the auction by signing the likes of Surender Nada, Jang Kun Lee, Mohammad Maghsoudlou, Jaideep, Neeraj Kumar and Hadi Oshtorak. But, Nada picked up an injury before the start of the season while the rest of the team did not fire in unison.

This led to Patna Pirates’ ouster in the league stage, and the Ram Mehar Singh-coached franchise will look to alter its squad ahead of PKL 2020. Here are the three players that Patna Pirates may release before next season:

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#3 Jang Kun Lee

The South Korean import could not deliver the goods in the raiding attack

Matches - 16, Raid Points - 60, Average Raid Points/Match - 3.78

The South Korea-born star raider, Jang Kun Lee finally left the Bengal Warriors as Patna Pirates acquired his services ahead of Pro Kabaddi 2019. Since Lee had performed well in the last few years, the Patna-based franchise was ready to pay ₹40 lakhs to buy him.

He performed decently in the season, however, he could not match his past performances. Pro Kabaddi 2019 proved to be the Korean star’s worst outing since Season 2.

The Patna Pirates player did not score even a single Super 10 in Season 7 while his average raid points/match of 3.78 was way lesser than his previous season’s average of 4.38.

Hence, Patna may either look to release him and buy him at a cheaper price or release him and hunt for any other raider in the auction.

#2 Mohammad Esmaeil

Mohammad Esmaeil had the calibre to become the biggest breakout star of the season

Matches - 20, Total Points Earned - 52, Average Points/Match - 2.6

The kabaddi universe had their eyes on the two new Iranian stars, Mohammad Nabibakhsh and Mohammad Esmaeil when the season began. While the former led his franchise to its first ever Pro Kabaddi championship, the latter fizzled out after promising to set the season on fire.

Esmaeil scored 9 points in the team's opening match of the tournament against Bengaluru Bulls. On that night, it seemed like Patna Pirates have finally found a good support raider for Pardeep Narwal. However, as the tournament progressed, his performances declined.

He finished the season with 39 raid points and 13 tackle points. The team management would have definitely hoped for a better show from the Iranian as they had invested ₹35 lakhs to bring him in the team. Unlike Jang Kun Lee, the chances that Patna would release Mohammad Esmaeil and buy him back are very low.

In case the Iranian raider improves his game in the upcoming Kabaddi World Cup, only then would the Patna Pirates consider retaining him.

#1 Monu

Monu joined the team as a replacement for Surender Nada

Matches - 21, Total Points Earned - 37, Average Points/Match - 1.76

When a youngster replaces a player like Surender Nada in the team, it goes without saying that the youngster would be under immense pressure to deliver the goods. The same happened with the former Puneri Paltan all-rounder, Monu. He joined the Patna Pirates camp late and thus, he could not gel with the team properly.

It was tough to understand whether he was a raiding all-rounder or a defender as he used to chip in with raid points as though he was billed to be Pardeep Narwal’s partner. He ended the season with 26 tackle points and just 11 raid points.

His numbers witnessed a massive dip from Season 6 where he had scored 57 points in just 14 matches. Also, his successful raid percentage of 16.66 shows how much he struggled in the raiding department.

He scored an average of 0.52 raid points and 1.24 tackle points per game. The team management would have had greater expectations from the youngster hence, they might release him before PKL 2020.