Pro Kabaddi League Season 6: Predicting U.P. Yoddha's starting seven for the initial matches

The franchise based on Uttar Pradesh, U.P. Yoddha were one out of the four teams which debuted in Season 5 and had a decent outing in their debut season with them reaching the playoffs. The team owned by GMR group could only win 8 out of 22 matches, but they mostly took advantage of losing games in less than 7-point margin which took them towards Eliminators.

Their richest buy, Nitin Tomar at ₹93 lakhs formed a raiding partnership with Rishank Devadiga and scored 347 raid points out of U.P.'s 461 total raid points (75.21% of the team's raid points). The team was heavily dependent upon this raiding duo with other raiders failing to live up to the reputation. Even in the do or die raids, they stood 11th in the total team rankings for do or die raid points.

Their expectations were higher with Rajesh Narwal, the second richest buy of the season at ₹69 lakhs who failed miserably and scored 27 points in 16 games. Only Jeeva Kumar in the covers was an experienced defender in their team who did justice to his name. The new corners Nitesh Kumar, Pankaj, and Sagar Krishna rose to the occasion but for a couple of times only.

They lost their Eliminator match versus Puneri Paltan (40-38) as their defence led them down with just 8 tackle points in comparison with Pune's 17 tackle points. Over dependability on Nitin and Rishank and a miserable defence which gifted points to the opposition were the reason, they couldn't progress ahead in their debut season.

For Season 6, U.P. Yoddha has managed to sign 19 players as Ashish Nagar (defender) was picked by the team after the auctions ended. They chose to retain Rishank Devadiga over Nitin Tomar as they used their FBM card over Dabang Delhi K.C.'s winning bid of ₹1.11 crores.

With Arjun Singh as the head coach and Jasveer Singh (not the Nawabi raider from Pink Panthers) as the assistant coach, they have managed to build a decent squad for the upcoming season. Here's a prediction to how U.P. Yoddha may line up their playing 7 for the initial phase of the tournament:

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Right Corner: Nitesh Kumar

Nitesh Kumar (3rd from left to right) also plays as the Services' right corner.

Nitesh Kumar was the highest tackle points scorer of U.P. Yoddha with 47 tackle points in 19 matches. Averaging 2.47 tackle points per game, Nitesh Kumar performed like a stalwart after he arrived in the middle phases of the tournament.

His highlight performance came in the final home leg match versus Telegu Titans where the combination tackles of him and Jeeva Kumar kept Rahul Chaudhari out of the court for a long duration. The double thigh hold on Rahul in the last 30 seconds stole the game away from the Titans and won them their first home match.

Nitesh had 4 High 5s in Season 5. An expert in double thigh holds and chain tackles, Nitesh will have to uplift his game to stay as team's permanent right corner.

Right In: Shrikant Jadhav

Shrikant Jadhav has good ability to score bonuses and come handy in do or die raids.

When all-time greats such as Anup Kumar and Kashiling Adake were striving to get raid points, Shrikant had been consistently performing throughout the season.

In a match against Dabang Delhi K.C., Shrikant pulled off a 2-pointer raid in the last 45 seconds that turned around things for U Mumba as they had won (30-28). Shrikant Jadhav who gained a permanent place after Shabeer Baapu's injury scored 86 points in 19 matches with 2 Super 10s.

Known for his ability to score points in the do or die raids with him finding escape routes in the mightiest of defence, Shrikant will be the team's go-getter in crucial situations for U.P. Yoddha.

Right Cover: Nitin Mavi

Nitin Mavi represented India during the International Invitational Men's Tournament held in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Nitin Mavi is a debutant who will be a part of U.P.'s mightiest wall of defence. He is a courageous defender who has faced a lot of roadblocks before making it to the big leagues.

This flamboyant defender can execute beastly dashes as well as thigh holds. He is a hard trainer who has upper body strength in his posture. Hailing from Tehkhand, Delhi, Nitin Mavi performed exceedingly well during U.P. Yoddha's trials at Ghaziabad.

He will be aiding finely to the team's left corner and will form a covers duo with Jeeva Kumar which will be a feast for the eyes to watch.

Center: Rishank Devadiga

Rishank is the 4th highest do or die raid points scorer in Pro Kabaddi history and has 20 super raids to his name.

Fans have witnessed an immense transition in Rishank Devadiga from being U Mumba's go-to-man for do or die raids to being an audacious leader on his own. He led Maharashtra upfront versus Karnataka in the semifinals and Services in the finals scoring back to back multiple points raids.

Rishank is currently in his best form so far with him bringing a leadership quality to his game. 25.17% of his raid points are do or die raid points which are 113 raid points. Rishank is the 7th highest in total raid points with 449 raid points in 80 matches.

He showed his spectacular performance in the Dubai Kabaddi Masters as well with his hand touches and kicks. Because of his exceptional performances in the Nationals and Kabaddi Masters, U.P. Yoddha have their new leader in Rishank Devadiga.

Left Cover: Jeeva Kumar

Jeeva Kumar is the 3rd highest in the ranks of total super tackles in Pro Kabaddi.

For those who are passionate towards Kabaddi, the words like 'tough' and 'solid' are a synonym to Jeeva's performance on the mat. One of the most ruthless campaigners hailing from Tamil Nadu, Jeeva has silently contributed to the game of Kabaddi.

A versatile player who can play both left and right cover, his trademark move is the dash which he executes coming down the court in a flash. He is a super tackle specialist with 17 super tackles with his double knee holds breaking the raider's stretch towards the midline.

He has 155 tackle points in 74 matches and will stand as an experienced pillar within young and fierce defenders.

Left In: Prashant Kumar Rai

Prashant Kumar Rai was the highest paid player on Day 2 of Season 6 auctions.

It came in as an astounding surprise to many Kabaddi fans as Prashant Kumar Rai received ₹79 lakhs as his winning bid from U.P. He performed consistently for Haryana Steelers as he amassed 78 raid points in 16 matches.

In a match versus Bengaluru Bulls, Prashant managed to score 16 raid points. His stellar raiding consisted of 3 bonus points, plenty of hand touches and escapes. He evolved as Karnataka's lead raider in the Senior Nationals as well.

Prashant single-handedly scored 20 raid points to take out Pardeep Narwal's Uttarakhand in the quarterfinals. It will be interesting to see Prashant and Rishank's raiding duo of left and right side attack respectively as he'll aid much support to his leader.

Left Corner: Sagar B. Krishna

Sagar Krishna (2nd from left to right) is a defensive all-rounder.

This all-rounder made a name for himself from U.P. last season. In Season 4 with the Telegu Titans, Sagar Krishna couldn't find a corner spot at all because of the Narwal-Dhull corner duo.

As soon as he got an opportunity, he rose perfectly and found himself a permanent place in the starting 7. He got 32 tackle points in 17 matches.

Sagar is a tall defensive all-rounder who uses his upper body strength to execute frontal blocks from the corner and can execute the dives and ankle holds beautifully. Kerela's pride, Sagar Krishna will look to outshine everybody with his defensive abilities on the mat.