It has been confirmed that it will be Sukesh Hegde who will lead the Gujarat Fortune Giants in the upcoming Pro Kabaddi season five. The side are one out of the four new teams added this season, with other three being the Tamil Thalaivas, UP Yoddha and Haryana Steelers.
The side from Gujarat will play their first game on August 1 in Hyderabad against Dabang Delhi. Owned by the Adani Group, this is the first venture by the company into buying a franchise in one of India’s multiple sporting leagues.
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The Fortune Giants had a relatively quiet auction, buying just three players on the first day. However, they picked up pace on the second and built a competitive squad that will be a strong contender going into the season.
Related: Gujarat team players for Pro Kabaddi 2017, Season 5
The four new teams were allowed a priority pick and the side from Gujarat chose wisely, picking star defender Fazel Atrachali, who was awarded the PKL’s best defender in the previous edition. He had a tackle conversion rate of 69.7% and a strike rate of 62.5%.
It was certainly surprising to see Fazel not being awarded the captaincy for the new season, given his terrific performance over the seasons and as well as the Kabaddi World Cup, where he was part of the Iran side that finished runners-up behind India.
Sukesh Hegde, is however, another suitable candidate and it is understandable why he has been handed the captain’s armband for the new season. He was picked for a bargain amount of Rs 31.50 lakhs and this will be his second team in five seasons after he spent the previous four with the Telugu Titans.
He has established himself as one of the elite raiders in the competition and is renowned for his agility and awareness. The man from Karnataka has played 49 matches in the past four seasons, amassing a mammoth 209 points at an average of 4.27 raid points per match.
Here is the Gujarat squad for the season: Fazel Atrachali (Defender), Abozar Mohajermighani (Defender), Sukesh Hegde (Raider), Seong Ryeol Kim (All-Rounder), Mahipal Narwal (All-Rounder), Mahendra Ganesh Rajput (Raider), C Kalai Arasan (Defender), Rohit Gulia (All-Rounder), Vikas Kale (Defender), Manoj Kumar (Defender), Amit Rathi (Raider), Sachin (Raider), Parvesh Bhainswal (Defender), Sunil Kumar (Defender), Sultan Dange (Raider), Pawan Kumar Sehrawat (Raider), Rakesh Narwal (Raider), Chandran Ranjit (Raider).
