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Pro Kabaddi 2019 will commence from 20th July 2019 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad as the hosts Telugu Titans will square off against U Mumba in the opening fixture.
Inaugural season champions Jaipur Pink Panthers have slacked off ever since their win in the first season of the league as they have failed to qualify into the playoffs from four seasons and their next best performance came in season 4 when they finished as the runners-up.
For PKL 7, the Jaipur Pink Panthers will play their first league match on 23rd July 2019 against arch-rivals U Mumba. Their home leg will commence from 21st September and culminate on 27th September, at the Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium, Jaipur.
With Deepak Niwas Hooda set to lead the side for PKL 7, here is a look at the three reasons why the Jaipur Pink Panthers could win the title.
#3 Plethora of raiding options led by Deepak Niwas Hooda
Jaipur Pink Panthers have plenty of raiding options with them.with Deepak Niwas Hooda, Nilesh Salunke, Ajinkya Pawar and Deepak Narwal proving their worth on the raiding front in the past few seasons.
Deepak Hooda has 710 raid points in his career, including 24 Super 10s to his name with an average of 6.89 raid points per game. The running hand touch specialist will lead Jaipur's raiding attack while Nilesh Salunke will be the calm amongst the storm. Nilesh has 250 points from 62 matches and will be key to bring about the bonus points.
Maharashtrian Ajinkya Pawar was one of the finds of Pro Kabaddi season 6. In his debut season, Ajinkya scored 71 raid points out of 17 matches at an average of 4.18 raid points and his lively pace could also come to the fore.
#2 The defensive unit will be led by Amit Hooda
Jaipur Pink Panthers purchased the services of right corner Amit Hooda for ₹53 lakh. He was the best defender for the Panthers in season 4 and was an integral part in the defensive unit as his fine show went a long way in taking the Panthers to the finals. He scored 51 tackle points in 16 matches.
Post that, ankle hold specialist Amit Hooda shifted to Tamil Thalaivas. He finished as the seventh best defender of the fifth edition with 61 tackle points. However, in season 6, he performed below expectations. He scored 51 points from 18 matches.
His partner in the defense left corner, Sandeep Dhull was a part of Dabang Delhi K.C. for the third season and Telugu Titans in season four before finally joining the Jaipur Pink Panthers last year.
Diving thigh hold specialist Sandeep turned out to be one of the most lethal defenders for the Pink Panthers last season. He picked up 67 tackle points in 22 matches at an average of 3.05 tackle points.
The corner combination of Amit and Sandeep would be crucial for the Panthers in the upcoming seventh season of Pro Kabaddi.
#1 Well-rounded team with proper backups
The Jaipur Pink Panthers have signed 18 players for the seventh season of Pro Kabaddi League. The team has a back-up player for almost every position in the game. They have many raiding options with Deepak Niwas Hooda, Deepak Narwal, Ajinkya Pawar, Nilesh Salunke in the team.
Even if these raiders do not perform as per the expectations, young raiders Guman Singh, Lokesh Kaushik, and Milinda Chaturanga can provide adequate backup. On the defense front, they have all-rounder Nitin Rawal who can play at any position.
If Deepak Hooda fails while raiding, Rawal can play at the left cover position while burly defender Santhapanaselvam is also there as a backup defender.
Pawan TR, Elavarasan A, Karamvir, Dong Gyu Kim, Sachin Narwal could also earn a chunk of game time, with the youngsters proving in the domestic circuit that they are ready for making an impact in the PKL.
