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Pro Kabaddi League Season 6 is right around the corner as the league kickstarts on October 7, 2018, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai, Tamil for the first leg of the tournament. The action will continue across a period of three months and come to an end with the grand finale in Mumbai at the NSCI Dome on January 5, 2019, with the PKL Season 6 champions being crowned.
Puneri Paltan has been a franchise in the Pro Kabaddi League that has seen a lot of ups and downs over the years. They started out poorly in the league finishing in the low spots in the first two seasons. However, they have slowly turned into one of the playoffs spots contenders in the past couple of seasons and did well last season progressing out of their zone easily.
Puneri Paltan retained four players - Sandeep Narwal, GB More, Rajesh Mondal and Girish Maruti Ernak ahead of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 6 auction and maintained their core squad for the upcoming season.
However, they were not able to keep hold of their star performer from last season, the high-scoring all-rounder Deepak Niwas Hooda and lost him to the Jaipur Pink Panthers creating a huge void in the Puneri Paltan squad.
We take a look at some of the reasons that the Puneri Paltan side might find it difficult to win the Pro Kabaddi League Season 6.
#5 Lack of experience in the squad
Puneri Paltan's final squad after the Pro Kabaddi League 2018 Auction presents a picture of a well-balanced but inexperienced squad to challenge for a title. Despite the presence of experienced men like Sandeep Narwal, Girish Maruti Ernak, Rajesh Mondal and Nitin Tomar, the overall squad lacks experience and would need to step up in a big way to mount a challenge for the title.
There are a lot of young players like Rinku Narwal, GB More, Akshay Jadhav, Vikash Khatri, Ravi Kumar and others who will be expected to shine this season and a failure to do so could hamper Puneri Paltan's chances going into the season.
#4 Lack of a cohesive defensive unit
Puneri Paltan has signed two of the best corner defenders in the league in the form of Girish Maruti Ernak and Sandeep Narwal. Ernak has been handed the responsibility of leading the side this season and will have to marshall the troops from the back.
Despite their presence, the cover defence of Puneri Paltan side doesn't exude the level of confidence or experience which will be needed in order to challenge the plethora of raiding talents present in the league.
#3 Reliance on young raiders to step up
Puneri Paltan's roster is composed of a lot of young raiding talents like Akshay Jadhav, GB More, Deepak Kumar Dahiya and even all-rounders like Monu and Rinku Narwal. The bunch of youngsters will be tipped to perform well for the side if they wish to prove a credible challenger for the title shot.
Despite having some experience in the Pro Kabaddi League, the raiders will be under pressure to deliver for the side and it might prove to be a barrier for them to play freely and succeed during the upcoming season.
#2 Absence of Deepak Niwas Hooda will hurt Pune
Deepak Niwas Hooda was the leading scorer for the Puneri Paltan in the three seasons that he spent with the Maharashtrian franchise in the Pro Kabaddi League. His all-around exploits on the mat proved to be hugely beneficial for the side in the league as they turned into a playoffs contender after struggling in the first two seasons.
Hooda was picked up by the Jaipur Pink Panthers for a huge price of 1.15 Crores at this year's auction and leaves a huge void in the Puneri Paltan setup this season. He is amongst the top points scorers in the entire league and his contributions on the mat will be severely missed by the Puneri Paltan side and it puts a dampener in their title hopes for sure.
#1 Nitin Tomar under pressure to deliver for Pune
Nitin Tomar was the marquee signing for the Puneri Paltan franchise this season as they bought him at the PKL 2018 auction for a mammoth price of 1.15 Crores.
He had a good time with the UP Yoddha last season as they made the playoffs in their debut season n the Pro Kabaddi League. Tomar will be under immense pressure to perform being the leading raider for the Puneri Paltan and having to make up for the absence of Deepak Niwas Hooda in the squad this year.
