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Two-time PKL finalists Gujarat Giants will open their Pro Kabaddi 2023 campaign against the Telugu Titans on December 2. The Giants were one of the four new entrants in PKL ahead of the fifth season. They qualified for the finals in their first two seasons, but after that, the Ahmedabad-based franchise have been quite inconsistent.
The Giants let go of Manpreet Singh last season and hired Ram Mehar Singh as their new head coach. Ram has assembled a stellar squad for the Gujarat Giants ahead of Pro Kabaddi 2023. He has added some Iranian firepower in the form of Fazel Atrachali and Mohammad Nabibakhsh besides retaining some of the top performers from the last season.
In this article, we will look at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the Gujarat Giants in PKL 10.
Strengths - Experienced Playing 7
Very few teams in PKL 10 can say that they have an experienced option for every position when it comes to forming their playing seven. Gujarat Giants are one of them. The Giants have a solid squad on paper.
The league's most successful defender Fazel Atrachali will play at left corner, with the dangerous Sombir Gulia taking the right corner. Mohammad Nabibakhsh will be the lead all-rounder, while youngsters Parteek Dahiya and Rakesh HS will lead the raid attack.
The cover defenders will be Arkam Shaikh and Sourav Gulia, who played together for the Gujarat Giants in PKL 9. Overall, it looks like a pretty experienced unit.
Weaknesses - Absence of backup for Fazel Atrachali
Fazel Atrachali is the most successful defender in PKL history and can single-handedly help his team win matches. But the Gujarat Giants do not have a solid backup left-corner defender in case the 31-year-old is unavailable.
It is a long season, and Atrachali may want to take some rest in a few games. The only other left corner present in the Giants squad is Nitesh, who has never played in the PKL before. This seems to be the only weakness of the Gujarat Giants.
Opportunities - Time for Gujarat Giants all-rounder Mohammad Nabibakhsh to get his career back on track
Mohammad Nabibakhsh played a big role in the Bengal Warriors' championship win in PKL 2019. However, he could not set the tournament on fire while playing for Puneri Paltan last season.
The Iranian star scored only 36 points in 15 matches. His raid strike rate was less than 30%, while his tackle strike rate was below 50%. Joining the Giants has given Nabibakhsh an opportunity to revive his PKL career.
Threats - Too many good options available in the squad
The Giants will likely prefer Sourav Gulia and Arkam Shaikh as the cover defenders in their starting seven, but they also have a fantastic right cover defender in Ravi Kumar, who earned more than 50 points while playing for Haryana Steelers in PKL 2019.
Sombir Gulia should be the preferred right corner, but Manuj showed glimpses of becoming a top right corner defender last season. The Giants have Sonu in their raiding options, who scored 76 points in 17 matches for them in PKL 2019. Also, all-rounders GB More and Balaji D can bring a lot of value to the team.
The Gujarat Giants team management will have to think a lot before forming their playing seven. If a player is out of form, they should consider giving him a few more chances, but given the options present in the squad, there is a possibility of the Giants giving up on some players too easily.
