The 7th edition of the Pro Kabaddi League saw Bengal Warriors crowned as champions to see the side approach the auction more cautiously for season 8
The 8th season of the league was to start in 2020 but due to COVID19 it was cancelled. It’s been more than a year and a half and fans are eagerly waiting for the new season.
According to some reports in the media, the auction for for season 8 is going to be held soon, and the organisers are looking at a window after July to start the new season.
This article looks at the performance of Bengal Warriors in the last edition and also tries to analyse their strategy for the upcoming season.
Bengal Warriors Champions Of PKL 7
The sidehad a dream run in season 7 of the league as they won their first ever PKL title. The main catalyst in their win was their star raider Maninder Singh who scored 212 raid points for them, the most for their team, before getting injured just before the play offs.
Nabbibaksh exceeded all expectations and performed considerably well for Bengal Warriors.
One thing which helped Bengal Warriors win their first title according to their coach, BC Ramesh was their raiding department. The depth in their raiding department was on display when even after Maninder got injured before the play offs, the likes of Prapanjan and Sukesh Hegde took the responsibility and shone brightly. Pranpanjan had 100+ raid points as he fired exactly at the right time for Bengal Warriors.
Bengal Warriors defence too played a brilliant aggressive game throughout the tournament as Baldev and Jeeva showed their true potential in the final against Dabang Delhi where they kept Naveen Kumar quit for much of the final.
Rinku too had a brilliant tournament as he scored 64 points and was Bengal’s second best defender after Baldev who peeped Rinku by just one point.
Bengal Warriors Auction Approach For Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 Auction
Going into the next season Bengal is expected to retain Maninder Singh which might cost them, 70-100 Lacs. They would be tempted to retain Nabbibaksh and their two best defenders from last season. They might have to go with a truncated purse if they do choose to retain four players, as for Nabbibaksh they might have to shed another 70-100 Lacs and for Rinku and Baldev they might have to spend 20-30 Lacs and 10-20 Lacs respectively.
We will only get to know how the dynamics play out with respect to auction money as the rules for the next auctions are still not released. Irrespective of the that, the option of FBM is expected to be retained and Bengal would like to use that option to get back their raiders, the likes of Pranpanjan and Hegde. They might even use it for Jeeva Kumar who was their best player in the final of season 7.
Only time will tell how Bengal Warriors is going to build their team for the much awaited season 8.
Also Read: PKL Most Expensive Player