Bengal Warriorz seek a return to the Playoffs in Pro Kabaddi League Season 12

Pro Kabaddi League Season 7 champions Bengal Warriorz will aim to return to the PKL Season 12 Playoffs after four consecutive editions of league stage exits.

Ahead of Season 12, the Warriorz parted ways with former head coach Prashant Surve after they finished 10th last season with just five wins in 22 matches. The franchise appointed Naveen Kumar as their new head coach and named Praveen Malik as the assistant coach for the upcoming season.

The Warriorz were busy at the PKL Season 12 Player Auction as they revamped their squad following a few underwhelming campaigns. Here’s a closer look at the team’s strengths and weaknesses ahead of the new PKL season.

Strengths

The biggest strength of the Warriorz is likely to be their raiding unit in the Pro Kabaddi Season 12. They bolstered their attack by roping in PKL Season 11’s standout raider Devank Dalal for a whopping INR 2.205 crore at the Season 12 Player Auction.

The Warriorz have also brought back the Korean star raider Jang Kun Lee, the Scorpion Kick King, and acquired Himanshu at the auction to strengthen their raiding unit.

Iranian raider Omid Khojasteh Mohammadshah, Indian raiders Sushil Kambrekar, Vishwas S, Manprit, Punit Kumar and Rachit Kumar are the other options in their attack as they will be eager to make an impact for the Warriorz in the upcoming season.

Weaknesses

As far as weaknesses are concerned, the lack of quality defenders could potentially hurt the Warriorz in Season 12. While the Warriorz exercised their Final Bid Match (FBM) options at the auction to retain their star defenders Nitesh Kumar and Mayur Jagannath Kadam for one season each, the PKL Season 7 winners seem to have an inexperienced defensive unit on paper.

Additionally, the Warriorz are also short of all-rounders in their PKL Season 12 squad. Shivansh Thakur and Moolchandra Singh are the two all-rounders in the squad on paper for the forthcoming campaign.

Opportunities

The Warriorz have plenty of young talents who will look to impress in the Pro Kabaddi Season 12.

After a breakthrough season, Devank will aim to continue his dominance on the mat in the Pro Kabaddi. The young raider earlier took the league by storm as he accumulated 301 raid points in 25 matches in Season 11. Alongside him is Sushil Kambrekar, who showed immense potential last season but had to leave mid-season due to an injury. He’ll be looking to redeem himself this time around.

The likes of Yash Malik (left corner), Manjeet (left cover), Deep Kumar (right cover), Amandeep (right corner), Ankit, Sandeep (right corner), Harander (right corner), Parteek (left cover) and Ashish (left corner) are some of the skilful defenders who will look to hog the limelight alongside the experienced duo of Nitesh Kumar and Mayur Kadam.

Threats

As already touched on, the lack of experienced defenders and quality all-rounders could hamper the team’s chances of securing a Playoff berth in Pro Kabaddi Season 12.

Considering the balance of the squad, the Warriorz could be heavily reliant on the likes of Devank, Jang Kun Lee, Nitesh Kumar and Mayur Kadam, which might be a problem for the franchise.

Furthermore, any injury or loss in form for Devank could further hurt the Warriorz in their bid for a top-six finish.

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