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Pro Kabaddi 2019 will commence from 20th July 2019 and the seventh season will see all teams will play each other twice in the group stage with no zonal classification in this PKL edition. All the matches will begin from 7:30 PM IST and the home legs of all teams will commence from every Saturday of a new week.
Patna Pirates are undoubtedly the most successful team in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League. The Pirates have defended their title not only once but twice. They won the title three time, in March 2016, July 2016 and October 2017 which is the most by any team in PKL history.
Patna Pirates retained their star raider Pardeep Narwal, Vikas Jaglan, and Jawahar Dagar ahead of the PKL 7 auctions and signed 16 players for the PKL 7. Surender Nada (₹77 lakh), Neeraj Kumar (₹44.75 lakh), South Korean raider Jang Kun Lee (₹40 lakh), Iranian raider Mohammad Esmaeil Maghsoudlou Mahali (₹35 lakh) were some of the costliest buys from the auction.
Patna Pirates are set to face the Bengaluru Bulls in their first league stage encounter on 20th July 2019. The home leg of Patna Pirates will start from 3rd August 2019 and culminate on 9th August 2019.
Here is a look at why the Pirates could win their fourth Pro Kabaddi League title.
#3 Raiding sensation Pardeep Narwal
Pardeep Narwal's label of being a record-breaker in the Pro Kabaddi league makes him one of the most important players to watch out for from PKL 7. The highest raid point scorer of the league, Pardeep has 858 raid points out of 85 matches in his career.
With 44 Super 10s and 38 Super Raids to his name, Pardeep Narwal also tops the list of most Super 10s, second most successful raids, and most super raids by any Pro Kabaddi player.
Running hand touches, bonus, escape, jump, or kicks, he has a number of skills up his sleeve and gave rise to the 'Dubki' in kabaddi that has seen him notch up a whole lot of points all through the five editions of his participation in the league.
He has carried the raiding department of the Pirates single-handedly which shows his dominance in the league with every passing year. The 'Dubki King' Pardeep Narwal will be the face of their raiding unit in Pro Kabaddi 7 and his efficiency will be key for the Pirates.
#2 Flexibility in the defensive unit with a strong bench
Patna Pirates signed Surender Nada for a massive amount of ₹77 lakhs and with 222 tackle points in 71 matches, Nada would have been a massive contributor to the side. However, the ace defender does not seem to have recovered from the injury and has been ruled out of PKL 7.
However, Patna retained Jaideep through the FBM card and he could play as Nada's substitution or could come as a left cover defender which depends on the match situation.
Jawahar Dagar is expected to play as an the right corner, with Mahendra Chaudhary an able substitute player. Vikas Jaglan, who might play as a left cover could be substituted with ace Iranian all-rounder Hadi Oshtorak. Patna Pirates have shown immense faith in the defensive all-rounders which could prove to be the difference in the end.
#1 Renowned foreign names in the line-up
South Korean star raider Jang Kun Lee, Iranian raider Mohammad Esmaeil Maghsoudlou Mahali and all rounder Hadi Oshtorak are the three overseas players in Patna Pirates' team. Jang Kun Lee is the most successful overseas raider, with 411 raid points from 90 matches at an average of 4.57 raid points per match, including 14 Super Raids and nine Super 10s.
Jang Kun Lee is one of the most dependable raiders, especially under crunch situations like the Do-or-Die junctions. Earlier, he represented the Bengal Warriors from season 1 to season 6 and will be playing for only his second franchise when he steps on to the mat for the Pirates.
Iranian all-rounder Hadi Oshtorak has played for a number of different teams such as the Telugu Titans, U Mumba, Gujarat Fortunegiants and now he is back with Patna Pirates. Hadi was a part of the Patna Pirates in seasons 3 and 4. He scored 69 tackle and 7 raid points in 50 matches.
Iran's Mohammad Esmaeil was an integral part of the silver medal-winning Iran team at the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup and Dubai Kabaddi Masters 2018. He scored 27 raid points in four matches at an average of 6.75 raid points in the Kabaddi Masters.
In the Asian Games 2018 semi-final versus India, Esmaeil notched up a brilliant High 5 which led his team to a gold medal finish. He raids from the right side and can execute dives from the cover defense.
The form of these three foreign signings could undoubtedly have a massive impact on how far the Pirates go in this season.
