Haryana Steelers, the team based in one of the hotbeds of Kabaddi in India, Haryana, look set with a strong young raiding unit of Vikas Kandola and Rohit Gulia while new man, the highly-rated Brijendra Singh Choudhary and Surender Nada will lead their defensive department.
Haryana Steelers, who have always been a strong team since their entrance into the Pro Kabaddi League 3 seasons ago have once again put together a strong side to take on the competition in Season 8. The Steelers retained Vikas Kandola ahead of auction and had 3.2 crore rupees in their purse coming in and also retained the services of Vinay who was one of the promising NYPs in their ranks from Season 7 of PKL.
Overall Squad Rating: 7/10
In the foreign category, Haryana Steelers bagged two Iranian players Hamid Mirzaei Nader and Mohammad Esmaeil Maghsodlou at a steal. Hamid Mirzaei was impressive as a right-corner defender for Team Iran at the Dubai Masters in 2018 and could be a player to watch. Rohit Gulia was one of their expensive picks for the season at 83 Lakhs, which seems pricey to us and they also bought all-rounder Brijendra Singh Chaudhary at 55 Lakhs, who could be one of the most exciting new players to watch.
The Haryana Steelers have one of the strongest attacking departments this season with the Indian Railways combo of Vikas Kandola and Rohit Gulia and Vinay as a support raider. They also have Brijendra Singh Choudhary who displayed good performances in the Senior Nationals. In the defensive department, Surender Nada, Chand Singh and Brijendra Singh Choudhary could make for a lethal combination. Brijender Singh Choudhary became a big name in Kabaddi circles when he successfully stopped Pawan Sehrawat several times in the Nationals. The corner combination looks great for Haryana Steelers, but the covers could be the hole that opposition raiders target. Rajesh Narwal and Vikas Jaglan who are the covers for Haryana, are error-prone and will need to put in a lot of work ahead of the season.
Overall Haryana Steelers looks like a solid team and has also signed contracts with promising NYP players outside the auction, the details of which are not released yet. Based on various parameters, Kabaddi Adda gave Haryana Steelers’ attack a rating of 4/5 and 3/5 for their defence, which is an overall rating of 7/10, which is one of the top ratings for teams this season.
[Header Image Credit: Haryana Steelers]
[All Data Courtesy: Kabaddi Adda]
Suhail Chandhok
Vertical Head - Sports