Pro Kabaddi: Dabang Delhi upbeat despite Surjeet Narwal’s continued absence

Surjeet Narwal

113 points in 14 games, that was Surjeet Narwal’s tally in Star Sports Pro Kabaddi’s inaugural season. Top raider for the Dabangs and 5th best overall, he was the anchor of the franchise’s attack and pulled them through to some memorable wins.

In the absence of any quality foreigner or a regular international, he exceptionally guided the team. In the lead up to this season, thus, the management and squad alike had hoped that he will be their driving force again. However with recurring knee and back injuries, he has remained sidelined through the training camps and more importantly, has missed the opening 5 matches of the team’s campaign.

While the team maintains he is improving, the recovery road seems to be continual as seldom do we see him even warming up with the squad before games.

As the Dabangs landed in Patna for what is the 4th leg of the season, we reached out to Head Coach Honnappa C Gowda to find out about his availability. Refusing to give a definitive date for his return, he said, “The physiotherapist has been working with him. Hopefully, he should be able to return soon.”

Asserting though that the team is upbeat despite Surjeet’s absence, the gaffer added, “He is a top player but then we have to take into account that injuries are part of the game. Kashi (Kashiling Adake) and Rohit (Rohit Kumar Chaudhary) have done brilliantly in his absence and I hope we continue our surge in the matches to come.”

Surjeet, meanwhile, remained unavailable for comments but as another source close to the team suggested, he should be fit in time for Delhi’s home games from 8th of August.