VIVO Pro Kabaddi auctions took place on the 30th and 31st of May. Each team had to select between 18 and 25 players. Monu Goyat became the costliest player after being bought by Haryana's franchise for ₹151 lakhs.
Players like Rahul Chaudhari, Deepak Hooda, Nitin Tomar and Rishank Devadiga also joined the one crore club.
Fazel Atrachali became the priciest player after bagging a huge sum of ₹100 lakhs. Prashanth Rai became the most expensive player on the second day of the auctions.
Coach Randhir Singh is known for introducing new players to the league and shaping them into champions. Our champion Pardeep Narwal is one of his best finds.
The coach once again focused on making a balanced team by inculcating a balance of experienced and young players.
Here is an expert review of the full squad of the Bulls:
Raiders
Bengaluru Bulls have a total of eight raiders. Rohit Kumar is on number one. He was retained by the team which is pretty obvious, as he has played like a champion since his debut in season 3.
He played for Patna Pirates before making a switch to Bengaluru Bulls. Rohit contributed a lot in Patna's win and bagged the Best Raider Award in season 3.
Number two on the list is 'Kashi the Missile', Kashiling Adake. He played for Dabang Delhi till season 4 and was bought by U Mumba in season 5. In the approaching season, he will be seen donning on the red t-shirt of Bengaluru Bulls.
We also have an amazing young talent on the team who is, Harish Naik. He played for the Bulls' last season where he showed a really good game which impressed a lot of kabaddi fans.
Other young players like Pawan Sehrawat, Rohit, Anand, Anil and Sumit Singh will also play for Bangalore's franchise.
If we review the raiding side of the team, the list has a perfect balance of experienced as well as young players which will help the team in the long run. The yet unknown skipper will have to guide the side well in order to bring out their best performance.
Defenders
The team has got a sum of eight defenders in Bengaluru's team. The list has Ashish Kumar, who was retained by the Bulls last season. He showed an appreciable game in season 5, and we expect him to do the same.
The list also consists of Mahender Singh, who played amazingly last season as well. Players like former Steelers' player Raju Lal Chaudhary, Sandeep, Mahendra Singh Dhaka, Amit Sheoran, Jawahar K and Nitesh BR will also be seen playing for the Bulls.
If we give a close look to the defensive side of the team, it is clearly noticeable Bengaluru Bulls have young and good defenders, but they lack experience.
Lack of experience can incur a loss to the team. Even though the players are highly skilled, the team management should have gone for more experienced players.
All-rounders
The team has got four all-rounders in total. Jasmer Singh Gulia is one of them. He played for Telegu Titans in season 4 and then disappeared. He was not in the auctions of season 5 and hence, he will be playing season 6 after a year's break.
Gulia played for Dabang Delhi before coming for Puneri Paltan. He showcased some really good skills on the mat. He played for Titans in season 4 but wasn't considered during the auctions last season. It will be interesting to see him play after a season's break.
Other all-rounders in the list are Dong Ju Hong, the South Korean player who played well during the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup. Gyung Tae Kim and Mahesh Magdum will also play for Bengaluru this time.
Talking about the all-rounders, there is not a single reliable all-rounder in the team. Gulia missed the last season, and the other all-rounders are not experienced.
Author's Take
Coach Randhir Singh wanted to buy the perfect team, but he was unable to do so. Raiders in the team are well bought but the list of defenders and all-rounders is concerning.
Lack of experience can cause troubles for the team. Bengaluru Bulls is the team which makes a good start but scats in the middle of the season as we saw last year. We will have to see as to how the players play in the upcoming season.
Don't forget to watch VIVO Pro Kabaddi League which will commence from the 19th of October this year after the Jakarta Asian Games which will be played in August.