Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: UP Yoddha announce Nitin Tomar as captain 

The fifth instalment of the Pro Kabaddi League is going to be bigger than all of its previous editions, featuring 4 new teams in the likes of UP Yoddha, Tamil Thalaivas, Haryana Steelers and Gujarat Fortune Giants in addition to the existing eight.

The season which will commence later on this month on the 28th of July will witness almost 140 matches taking place over the course of three months in 10 states across India, with the final being scheduled for the 28th of October.

Prior to the season, player auctions were held in May, in which each of the original eight franchises was allowed to retain one player while the new ones were allowed to make a Priority Pick. Subsequently, the teams more or less built their squads from scratch and UP franchise recorded the costliest buy when they procured the services of Nitin Tomar for a whopping Rs 93 lakhs.

Read: Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: 5 controversies that rocked the PKL

The raider was a livewire on the mat in his debut in Season 3 for the Bengal Warriors but did not showcase the same form whilst with the Puneri Paltan in Season 4 due to injury concerns. Nonetheless, he made the cut to the Indian squad and was a part of the team that won the Kabaddi World Cup last October.

Thus, the team has also entrusted the young man with the responsibility of marshalling the troops around on the kabaddi mat, thus giving him the complete opportunity to prove his worth.

In addition to Tomar, the UP think tank managed to make some good buys at the auctions and this included former U Mumba man, Rishank Devadiga. The Best Raider from Season 3 of the PKL, will play a large role in the attack for he will look to combine with Nitin to put up a rampant raiding front for the team. Rishank then has also been named as the vice-captain of the franchise and will assist Nitin with the tactics and strategies on the mat, having been through the thick of things at U Mumba under Anup Kumar's captaincy.

In the defence, UP has an experienced campaigner in Jeeva Kumar who will largely guide the young forces around to form an impregnable defensive wall of sorts. While for the all-round abilities, the mantle will rest on the talented Rajesh Narwal to bail the team out of trouble in dire situations.

All in all, the UP team looks like one that can spring up a surprise and go the distance to claim the trophy if their coordination and attack works successfully on the mat.