There is an old saying that goes, ‘the bigger they are, the harder they fall’ and for the Jaipur Pink Panthers after the first season, the fall hasn’t only been hard but a steep one. From finishing the first season as the winners to have not been able to play in the top four again tells the sad state of Abhishek Bachchan’s team in the Pro Kabaddi League. They showed spunk when they won 6 out of their 9 games, bouncing back from a streak of five defeats and threatened to make it to the semis in the second season. But things never looked up for the Panthers in the third season as they could manage just 4 wins in their 14 matches. This season the team would hope to make amends for their dismal last season performance and scale back the heights it climbed in the first season.
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Here is looking at the strength and weaknesses of the Panthers and also the threats and opportunities facing the team in the season 4 of Pro Kabaddi League
Strengths
The Pink Panthers could have chosen to revamp their side and do what many teams like Dabang Delhi and Patna Pirates decided to do in the auctions. However, the team didn’t go for any knee jerk reactions and kept the core of the team intact.
The team has shown faith in the names that have performed for it throughout the three seasons. Ran Singh and Rohit Rana have been dependable in the defence for the team and will continue to chase and pin raiders this season as well for Jaipur.
Jasvir Singh and Rajesh Narwal have been consistent for the team and still will be doing the bulk or raiding for the Pink Panthers. The team has been further strengthened by the addition of Shabeer Bapu, who was a star raider for the U Mumba and can challenge any defence of Pro Kabaddi league with his agility and sharpness.
Weaknesses
The team's failure in the two seasons that followed their successful first season could be attributed to their over reliance on Ran Singh and Rohit Rana. And the last two seasons didn't see the defenders in any spectacular form, leading to the team's downfall.
Also, the team were led admirably well by Navneet Gautam in the first season but Jasvir Singh just didn’t look at ease with captaincy along with fitness issues plaguing him. It is to be seen how Jasvir Singh handles captaincy this season with raiding duties.
Opportunites
The team has the ammunition to last the distance in the competition and with some good signings that make the team a healthy mix of youth and experience, the Pink Panthers would be hoping to reclaim their lost glory and emerge as the champions again. Besides, Jasvir Singh has been a star performer for them but has struggled with captaincy. But the trust of the management should push him to perform better with the captaincy.
Also, the last two seasons were a lost cause due to the team’s poor raiding. However, with a fit again Jasvir Singh and Shabeer Bapu, they’ll hope for the raiding to come good.
Home advantage is something that they have not exploited well after the first season and would look forward to clinch some crucial points while playing in front of their home crowds.
Threats
Inconsistency has been the team’s bane as can be seen from the fact that after 10 victories in the first season, the team has managed only 12 wins in the next two seasons.
The team has also shown a tendency of throwing away after starting well. They’re guilty of not capitalising on good starts and have to guard against such tendency if they want to give the title a serious shot.
