Pro Kabaddi League 2018: 5 players who will shine for Puneri Paltan

Pro Kabaddi League season kicks off on October 7, 2018, as the first leg takes place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The long, grueling season of the Pro Kabaddi League will continue for three months and come to a close in Mumbai on January 5, 2018, when the champions will be crowned.

Puneri Paltan has been a franchise that has emerged from being down in the dumps in the initial seasons and risen to one of the playoffs contenders over the years. The side have seen many stalwarts like Manjeet Chillar, Surjeet Singh, Ajay Thakur, Deepak Niwas Hooda feature for them and are always a threat to any side on their day.

This season, they went into the auction after retaining Sandeep Narwal, Rajesh Mondal, More GB, Girish Maruti Ernak, Vikash Khatri, Rinku Narwal, Monu which was the maximum number of players retained by a franchise this season. They have retained the core of the side going into the season and with the addition of star raider Nitin Tomar for a price of 1.15 Crores, look a formidable unit.

We take a look at the key players for the Puneri Paltan this season.

#5 Deepak Kumar Dahiya

Deepak Kumar Dahiya has been a regular feature in the Pro Kabaddi League having played in all the seasons of the league so far. He played in the first four seasons of the PKL for the Bengaluru Bulls but did not feature prominently for the side coming off the bench for most of his time there.

Last season for the Haryana Steelers, Dahiya rose to the forefront after the injury to Vikash Khandola in the initial stages of the league. He scored a total of 78 points with three Super Raids and a Super 10 performance to his credit.

Puneri Paltan picked up Dahiya in the auction for a modest price of 12 Lakhs and that could just prove to be one of the best bargain buys this season in the Pro Kabaddi League.

#4 Rajesh Mondal

Rajesh Mondal is known to be one of the calmest and composed raiders in the sport having earned the reputation of the go-to man for do or die raid situations. Mondal began his Pro Kabaddi League career with the Bengaluru Bulls franchise and was a consistent performer for the side.

Mondal moved on to the Patna Pirates for the third season and was a part of the championship winning side. He played one more season for the Pirates wherein he scored 59 points from the fifteen matches in the fourth edition.

Mondal was a part of the Puneri Paltan last season and was crucial in the side's run to the playoffs and was rewarded with retention ahead of the PKL 2018 Auction. He will continue to deliver under pressure for the Paltan as they hope to launch another successful campaign this season.

#3 Sandeep Narwal

Sandeep Narwal is one of the best all-rounders in the entire Pro Kabaddi League and is amongs the top 10 points scorers in the league.

Narwal started out as a pure corner defender but slowly improvised his raiding skillset to turn into a beast of an all-rounder. With his speed and agility, Narwal has managed to terrorize the opponents in the five seasons of the PKL. He is one of the few players in the league who has scored more than 200 points in both raids as well as tackles.

He played for the Patna Pirates in the first three seasons of the league and won a title with the side in the third season. He played one season for the Telugu Titans before landing up at Puneri Paltan for Season 5. He was retained by the franchise after he scored 85 points last season and was a key contributor for the defence as well as the raiding unit. Narwal will hope to use his strength and smarts to guide the Puneri Paltan to glory this season.

#2 Girish Maruti Ernak

Girish Maruti Ernak started his Pro Kabaddi League career with the Patna Pirates in Season 1 and has slowly but steadily emerged as one of the most deadly corner defenders in the league.

Ernak played for the Bengal Warriors for two seasons before he was signed by the Puneri Paltan last season. It was a breakthrough season for the man from Maharashtra as he amassed 64 tackle points throughout the course of the season with three Super Tackles and five High 5s to his name. He was sixth on the rankings of most tackle points for last season and was rightfully retained by the Puneri Paltan ahead of the auction.

Girish Maruti Ernak will have the added responsibility of captaining the side for this season.

#1 Nitin Tomar

Nitin Tomar became a household name last season after he grabbed the headlines becoming the biggest buy of the Season 5 auction when the UP Yoddha signed him for 93 Lakhs.

Tomar raked in the big bucks again this season as the Puneri Paltan shelled out a sum of 1.15 Crores for his services after a stellar showing for the UP Yoddha, leading them to the playoffs in their debut season.

Tomar is a smart raider on the mat and has scored 277 raid points in 42 matches with 9 Super Tackles and 9 Super 10s over the years. Puneri Paltan will count on their star man to deliver the goods again this season as they aim to challenge for the title.