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The 12 squads for Pro Kabaddi 2023 have been finalized. The mega-auction for the 10th edition of PKL took place last week in Mumbai, where all the franchises signed the players they wished to. Fans witnessed some intense bidding wars for the top kabaddi stars.
All-rounders play a big role in any kabaddi team's success. The same has been the case for Pro Kabaddi League franchises. Quite a few teams achieved success in the league because of their top-quality all-rounders. An all-rounder can change the game with his excellent raiding or swift tackling skills.
We rank the 12 teams based on the all-rounders present in their Pro Kabaddi 2023 squads.
#12 Jaipur Pink Panthers
Defending champions Jaipur Pink Panthers are 12th on this list because they do not have a single player from the all-rounder category in their squad. Jaipur are the only team with zero all-rounders in Pro Kabaddi 2023.
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Their team consists of 19 players. 10 of them are specialist raiders while the other nine are specialist defenders.
#11 Dabang Delhi KC
Even season eight winners Dabang Delhi KC have opted for a similar strategy in Pro Kabaddi 2023. Delhi have signed only one all-rounder in Akash Prasher.
Akash was present in the Category D of all-rounders. While the youngster is talented, it seems unlikely that Delhi will use him much in PKL 2023.
#10 Tamil Thalaivas
Tamil Thalaivas also opted to spend the majority of their funds on specialist raiders and defenders. The Thalaivas have 10 raiders, 10 defenders and a solitary all-rounder in their Pro Kabaddi 2023 squad.
The only all-rounder in the Thalaivas squad is Ritik, whom the franchise signed for ₹9 lakh. It will be interesting to see how Ritik performs in the upcoming season.
#9 Telugu Titans
Telugu Titans have four all-rounders in their squad. The Titans spent a lot of money on Pawan Sehrawat, which forced them to sign the other players at their base price.
They roped in former Gujarat Giants star Shankar Gadai, Iranian all-rounder Hamid Nader and uncapped all-rounder Omkar More.
The Titans also signed Sanjeevi S in the NYP category. These all-rounders are talented but they have limited PKL experience.
#8 Haryana Steelers
Haryana Steelers have one all-rounder in their PKL 2023 squad. The Steelers roped in former U Mumba all-rounder Ashish for ₹23.25 lakh.
Ashish was with the Steelers in season eight. He earned 79 points in 15 matches that season. He scored 120 points in 21 games last season for U Mumba. Ashish is likely to play a big role in Haryana's success this season.
#7 Patna Pirates
Three-time champions Patna Pirates signed four all-rounders at the PKL Auction. The Pirates signed Rohit, Sajin Chandrasekar, Ankit and Daniel Odhiambo at the auction.
All four players have the potential to turn the game but have not produced consistent performances in the PKL. All eyes will be on Ankit this season because Patna signed him for ₹31.5 lakh.
#6 Bengal Warriors
Bengal Warriors splurged ₹2.12 to re-sign Maninder Singh at the Pro Kabaddi 2023 Auction. They also signed two all-rounders at the PKL 2023 Auction.
The first was Nitin Rawal, whom the Warriors signed for ₹30 lakh. Rawal has been a game-changer for Jaipur Pink Panthers in the past. The second name was Bhoir Akshay Rawat, who will make his PKL debut this year.
#5 Bengaluru Bulls
Former PKL champions Bengaluru Bulls signed two experienced all-rounders at the Pro Kabaddi 2023 Auction. They roped in Ran Singh for ₹13 lakh, who is known for his beasty tackles and mighty raids.
The other all-rounder in the Bulls squad is Sachin Narwal, who was roped in by the team for ₹23.25 lakh. Narwal played for the Bulls last season and scored 39 points in 16 matches.
#4 U Mumba
U Mumba went all out for Iranian all-rounder Amirmohammad Zafardanesh at the Pro Kabaddi 2023 Auction and signed him for a whopping ₹68 lakh. Zafardanesh was in tremendous touch while playing for Iran at the Asian Games.
The Mumbai-based franchise also smartly signed Tamil Nadu's Visvanath V at his base price of ₹13 lakh. Visvanath can prove to be an 'X-factor' for U Mumba.
#3 UP Yoddhas
UP Yoddhas have five all-rounders in their Pro Kabaddi 2023 squad. The best all-rounder present in their team is Vijay Malik, whom they signed for ₹85 lakh. Vijay was instrumental in Dabang Delhi KC's success in recent seasons.
The Yoddhas also have Gurdeep, Nitin Panwar, Helvic Wanjala and Samuel Wafula in the squad. All in all, they have one of the most dangerous sets of all-rounders in Pro Kabaddi this year.
#2 Puneri Paltan
Puneri Paltan have the best overseas all-rounder and best Indian all-rounder in the league right now. They retained Aslam Inamdar ahead of the auction and then roped in Mohammadreza Shadlu at the Pro Kabaddi Auction.
The third all-rounder in Pune's squad is Ahmed Enamdar, who is an overseas player. Shadlu and Inamdar can prove to be the biggest match-winners for Pune this season.
#1 Gujarat Giants
Gujarat Giants probably have the best group of all-rounders in PKL. The Ahmedabad-based franchise have a total of seven all-rounders in the squad. The biggest names present in the squad are Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh and Rohit Gulia, who have helped their teams win many matches in the past.
The other all-rounders present in Gujarat's squad are Arkam Shaikh, Balaji D, Vikas Juglan, Jitendra Yadav and Rohan Singh. All of them are utility players, who can provide some much-needed balance to Gujarat's playing seven.
