Star studded UP Yoddhas aim to end the team’s title drought in the Pro Kabaddi League. Having reached successive playoffs in the last five years, the team still does not have a trophy in their cabinet. Will PKL 2023 bring about a change?
By retaining the core, the team banks on consistency and their star players like Pardeep Narwal, Surender Gill and Nitesh Kumar to deliver in the upcoming season. InsideSport takes a complete look at the team’s performances over the years and their squad for the upcoming season.
UP Yoddhas performance over the years in PKL
UP Yoddhas have been one of the most consistent side in PKL history. The team made their debut in the 2017 edition of the league. They have qualified for the playoffs in every edition. However a PKL title still eludes them.
In the last edition, they finished fourth on the points table. In the Eliminator, the Nitesh Kumar-led side lost to Tamil Thalaivas in the tie-breaker.
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Retained Players
UP Yoddhas retained their core ahead of the auction this year. It includes big names like Pardeep Narwal, who the league’s most successful raider, Surender Gill and Nitesh Kumar.
The team management also showed faith in young guns Sumit, Ashu Singh, Anil Kumar and Mahipal. With these retentions, the team will have a settled line-up going into the upcoming PKL season which will be an advantage to the side.
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How the team fared at the PKL auction this year?
Having retained the core, the UP Yoddhas only needed back-up players at the auction for the raiding and defence departments. They focused on all-rounders at this year’s PKL auction.
All-rounder Vijay Malik was the expensive buy for the team. He was bought for 85 lakhs. Vijay Malik can chip-in in the raids and is also an able defender.
The team also bought Kenyan all-rounders Samuel Wafala and Helvic Wanjala. They then bought two other young Indian all-rounders in Gurdeep and Nitin Panwar. Defenders Kiran Nagar, Harendra Kumar and raider Gulveer Singh were also picked up at the auction.
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UP Yoddhas- PKL 2023 Squad
Raiders: Pardeep Narwal, Surender Gill, Ashu Singh, Gulveer Singh, Mahipal, Anil Kumar
Defenders: Nitesh Kumar, Sumit, Harendra Kumar, Kiran Laxman Magar
All-Rounders: Vijay Malik, Gurdeep, Samuel Wafala, Helvic Wanjala, Nitin Panwar
Editors pick
