PKL History: 5 players that teams should have never released

Pro Kabaddi League has become the top kabaddi league of the world thanks to the enthralling action and entertainment the players provide to the fans. The league earlier had only 8 teams but looking at the tournament’s enormous success, the organizers expanded it to a 12-team league.

A lot of unknown Kabaddi players have become celebrities because of the Pro Kabaddi League and they have also helped their teams gain an immense number of followers.

However, only a few players in the Pro Kabaddi League have been able to stay with the same franchise for years. There were some star players whose performances dipped after they left their first franchise while there have been cases where the players rose to stardom when they joined a new franchise.

Much to their first franchise’s disappointment, the-then benched players have even helped other teams win championships.

In this article, we will have a look at the 5 players which Pro Kabaddi teams should not have released.

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#5 Pawan Kumar Sehrawat - Gujarat Fortunegiants

Pawan Kumar Sehrawat

Playing for Gujarat Fortunegiants - 10 points in 9 matches

After leaving Gujarat Fortunegiants - 282 points in 24 matches

Pawan Sehrawat was the biggest star of the sixth season of Pro Kabaddi League. Playing for the Bengaluru Bulls, the raider collected 271 raid points in 24 games and helped his side win the title.

He scored 13 Super 10s in Season 6 much to the dismay of his former franchise Gujarat Fortunegiants, who had released him just before Season 6. While Manpreet Singh is known to have trust and faith in the young blood, it was a surprising move from his side to let go of someone like Pawan Sehrawat.

Pawan made sure that his former coach regrets selling him by performing well in the season’s finale against Gujarat Fortunegiants.

#4 Pardeep Narwal - Bengaluru Bulls

Pardeep Narwal

Playing for Bengaluru Bulls - 9 points in 6 matches

After leaving Bengaluru Bulls - 856 points in 79 matches

Bengaluru Bulls committed the biggest blunder in Pro Kabaddi League history, when they released Pardeep Narwal ahead of the third season. Never in his dreams would Bengaluru coach Randhir Singh have imagined that Narwal would emerge as the new poster boy of the league.

Bengaluru Bulls languished at the bottom of the points table in the third, fourth and fifth seasons while ex-Bengaluru Bulls player, Pardeep Narwal was winning championships for the Patna Pirates. Pardeep has scored 44 Super 10s after leaving Bengaluru Bulls and this figure would still give nightmares to the Bengaluru Bulls team management.

Though they have the likes of Pawan Kumar Sehrawat and Rohit Kumar in their squad now, they would have won more championships had they never released Pardeep Narwal.

#3 Maninder Singh - Jaipur Pink Panthers

Maninder Singh (right)

Playing for Jaipur Pink Panthers - 137 points in 16 matches

After leaving Jaipur Pink Panthers - 398 points in 43 matches

Maninder Singh was the star for Jaipur Pink Panthers in the inaugural edition of the Pro Kabaddi League as it was his stellar performance in the raiding department that took the Panthers to title glory. However, Maninder could not play the next three seasons of the league and joined the Bengal Warriors from the fifth season.

Jaipur Pink Panthers never thought of buying Maninder back in the auction while the Bengal Warriors put faith in him and he became their best raider. With 398 points in 43 matches, Maninder Singh has been the most valuable player of the Kolkata-based franchise.

In fact, Maninder was one of the only two that the Warriors retained ahead of season seven. This showcases the talent that the raider has and Jaipur, who finished in the bottom half of the points table last year, might regret a lot over their decision of leaving Maninder out.

#2 Parvesh Bhainswal - Jaipur Pink Panthers

Playing for Jaipur Pink Panthers - 3 points in 7 matches

After leaving Jaipur Pink Panthers - 134 points in 49 matches

Parvesh Bhainswal started his Pro Kabaddi League career as a part of the Jaipur Pink Panthers in season four. However, he could only score 3 points in his debut season and thus, was released by Jaipur. Newbies Gujarat Fortunegiants picked him in the auction and this move changed Parvesh’s kabaddi career.

Bhainswal emerged as one of the best defenders of season five and season six. His terrific performances led his team to the final in both the seasons. The fact that the Fortunegiants bought him for 75 lakhs in the recently-conducted auction shows how big a player Parvesh has become.

He will once again don the Gujarat Fortunegiants jersey in the upcoming edition of the Pro Kabaddi League. Looking at Jaipur’s dismal defense in the past two seasons, they should have never released Parvesh Bhainswal.

#1 Sunil Kumar - Patna Pirates

Playing for Patna Pirates - 1 point in 1 match

After leaving Patna Pirates - 134 points in 49 matches

Just like his cousin brother Parvesh Bhainswal, Sunil Kumar too had made his Pro Kabaddi League debut in the 4th season. He was a part of the champion Patna Pirates side that year. However, Sunil had contributed little to his team’s victory as he had only 1 point in his name in that season.

Next year, he joined the Gujarat Fortunegiants and formed an unbeatable combination with his cousin brother. Parvesh and Sunil are hailed as the best cover duo of the Pro Kabaddi League. Co-incidentally, they have scored the same number of points and played the same number of matches for the Fortunegiants.

Sunil Kumar was even appointed as the captain of the Fortunegiants last year and seeing how the Patna Pirates failed to make it to the play-offs last year, Sunil might have been a valuable player for them.