PKL Auctions | Naveen Kumar is emerging star of India, says Krishan Kumar Hooda confirming the youngster’s retention

The player auctions for the upcoming seventh edition of the popular Pro Kabaddi League is going to start from Monday with all the 12 teams battling out on the table to get the big and talented names of the sport in their side. Same will be the case for Dabang Delhi KC as well. The side that qualified for the playoffs and finished fourth have decided to keep Joginder Narwal and Meraj Sheykh in the side for the next season. Along with that, they will also have the services of young Naveen Kumar. The 19-year-old raider took the league by storm with his excellent abilities in his debut season and picked up 172 raid points from 22 matches. 

Speaking more about the NYP category and its impact on the league, Hooda said, “PKL has always been a platform for the young players to come forward and showcase their talent. For new and emerging talent, this retention policy will be more helpful. PKL has brought more professionalism into the game and it is having a great impact on the young players. The coming days are even going to be bigger and brighter for the sport of kabaddi. Kabaddi din dugni, raat chauguni tarakki ki kai (Kabaddi has improved a lot).”

“We have retained Joginder Narwal because he is someone who controls the team really well. He is an experienced player and as a captain, he had a brilliant season last year and performed well. Meraj Sheykh is a very good player and in five-six matches, he was really good and performed well in the raiding department. All the players have been retained according to their past performance and according to our requirements,” explained the Delhi coach.

The Dabang Delhi side had gone with the corner combination of Joginder and Ravinder Pahal in the previous season but this year they have released the right corner defender Pahal ahead of the auctions. When asked whether he will be interested in bringing The Hawk (as Pahal is called) back in the team from the auctions, Hooda replied, “We have to pick up a corner defender during the auction. We will keep an eye on all the players available at the auction. We will have a look at Ravinder and other players as well. Anyone who we think can contribute to our team, we will go after him.”

“We are having in our mind to strengthen the raiding unit of our team. We will try our best to bring an experienced raider into the team ahead of the next season. That will be our focus in the auction and will try hard to get that,” Hooda said ahead of the auctions.

Going into the auctions, the teams will be making proper strategies regarding targeting a particular player and keeping the amount with them in mind as well. The coach is well supported by the franchise officials and team managers to build a strong team ahead of the auctions starting on Monday. 

“Franchise owners, managers and senior officials are a part of the team making strategies ahead of the auction. They have been very helpful and it is a combined decision coming out of all the discussions with the team management. We are hopeful of making a good team, even better than the last season,” Hooda concluded.