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The Pro Kabaddi League teams announced their list of players retained for the 2023 season yesterday (August 7). While the majority of the teams have released the big names from their squads, a few franchises have ended up retaining their entire playing sevens from last season.
The Pro Kabaddi 2023 Auction will take place in September. Teams will aim to fill up the vacant spots in their squad by signing some quality players. All eyes will be on the auction strategy of the 12 teams, but here's a list of five retention decisions made by teams which could prove to be masterstrokes in PKL 2023.
#1 Pardeep Narwal, UP Yoddhas
Pardeep Narwal has not been in the best form in the last two seasons of the Pro Kabaddi League. While he seemed off-color in the eighth season, Narwal showed glimpses of returning to his old form while playing for the UP Yoddhas in the ninth edition of the league.
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Since Narwal did not finish in the top 5 of the Most Raid Points List, some fans felt that the UP Yoddhas may release him. However, the Yoddhas have backed him, and it should prove to be a masterstroke as The Record Breaker slowly returned to form last season.
#2 Parteek Dahiya, Gujarat Giants
Gujarat Giants have a habit of releasing their top performers, but the Ram Mehar Singh-coached team management has backed Parteek Dahiya after his impressive performance in the PKL last season.
Dahiya finished seventh in the Most Raid Points list by scoring 178 raid points in 19 matches. The young all-rounder can finish with a better tally if given regular chances to play in Pro Kabaddi 2023.
#3 Reza Mirbagheri, Jaipur Pink Panthers
Very few overseas players have been retained for PKL 2023. While the likes of Fazel Atrachali, Mohammad Nabibakhsh and Mohammadreza Chiyaneh have lost their contracts, Jaipur Pink Panthers have shown faith in their right cover defender, Reza Mirbagheri.
Reza scored 36 points in 16 matches for Jaipur last season. It should not be a surprise if he makes a bigger impact in this year's Pro Kabaddi League.
#4 Rajnish, Telugu Titans
Telugu Titans have released their star raiders Monu Goyat, Abhishek Singh and Siddharth Desai ahead of the PKL 2023 season. The Titans have retained rising star Rajnish, who got only two games in the previous edition of the league.
Rajnish has been an underrated match-winner for the Telugu Titans. Fans on social media were quite disappointed when the franchise did not back him enough last season, but it looks like the Titans will give him more opportunities in Pro Kabaddi 2023.
#5 Pankaj Mohite, Puneri Paltan
Puneri Paltan's raiding unit majorly relied on Akash Shinde, Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat in the previous season. With Aditya Shinde performing well in the few matches he got to play, it seemed like Pune may let go of Pankaj Mohite.
But Puneri Paltan have backed Mohite for Pro Kabaddi 2023. Mohite is a talented raider, who can step up and deliver the goods in case a main raider is injured or out of form.
