Pro Kabaddi League 2018: Dabang Delhi's bid for redemption will be fuelled by fallen stars' need to prove a point

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” For Dabang Delhi, Pro Kabaddi’s ultimate underachievers and the only team never to make the playoffs, Winston Churchill’s words should show the way forward. If the Pro Kabaddi auctions were anything to go by, there was no loss of enthusiasm seen in the Delhi camp as they chased one big gun after another. The bullishness in approach was quite visible, but once again, like the way it transpires on the mat, their efforts yielded very little. Despite winning bids for Rahul Chaudhari and Rishank Devadiga, the previous owners of these teams exercised the Right to Match card to steal those players away from Delhi’s grasps. After luck deserted Delhi in the Category A auctions, they had to get their act together for the lesser class of players. Eventually, Dabang Delhi recovered in the auctions to assemble a pretty solid squad. But the question is will it be enough to turn their fortunes around? Team combination  [caption id=“attachment_5290971” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Meraj Sheykh (C) was dropped from Iran’s team for the 2018 Asian Games. Image Courtesy: PKL[/caption] The squad that Dabang Delhi have put together is full of players that mirror the franchise’s current state. The Delhi outfit is desperate to end the streak of league stage exits. Similarly, the leading stars in the current side have a task on their hands to regain their elite status in the league after below-par campaigns in the past. Rajesh Narwal, Shabeer Bapu, Ravinder Pahal, Vishal Mane, Joginder Narwal and Yogesh Hooda could have staked a claim to be in the team of the season in the opening two campaigns, but their performances thereafter saw them drop out from the elite category of players in the auctions. Rajesh Narwal had his worst campaign in the UP Yoddha shirt last season and was largely held responsible for the team perishing early in the playoffs. Bapu returned to U Mumba last season, but injuries meant he played a largely peripheral role in their campaign. He scored just 35 points in the 12 games he played and his struggles handicapped U Mumba’s raiding department. Pahal has never been able to reach the heights he scaled when he was last part of Dabang Delhi in season two and has been too inconsistent. He showed improvements in the previous season with the Bengaluru Bulls when he scored 52 tackle points, but for Delhi to be genuine contenders, the demands will be more from their former captain. Mane was a part of the victorious Patna Pirates side of season five and played a key role of a leader in that team, but his defensive performances left a lot to be desired. He was dropped from the Maharashtra side for the National Championships that was able to lift the title without his services. However, the man with the biggest point to prove is former Iran skipper Meraj Sheykh who was overlooked for the Asian Games. While Sheykh would have been delighted to see his former teammates bag a historic gold in Jakarta, his sudden fall from grace would have hurt the all-rounder. “Meraj is very eager to prove a point. I had a conversation with him recently and he told me, ‘I will prove that Meraj Sheykh is not finished. I am still fit to play for Iran.’ This fire in his belly will benefit us,” Delhi’s cover defender Mane told Firstpost over the phone. The raiding department appears to be the team’s greatest strength. Sheykh and Bapu have loads of experience, while Pawan Kumar Kadiyan, Chandran Ranjit, Yogesh Hooda and Thailand captain Khomsan Thongkham constitute a strong battery of young raiders. If the seniors can roll back the years, Delhi will have one of the best raiding units in the league. In defence, the dependence on the old guard is slightly greater. Rajesh Narwal and Mane will occupy the cover positions, while Joginder and Pahal will take up the corners. However, the team’s new head coach Krishan Kumar Hooda, who has a wealth of experience having coached the Indian team in the past, would be keen to introduce youngsters in the side to balance the defence. “In this new format that lasts longer, I feel it’s important to have 2-3 players for every position. Firstly, injuries are unavoidable and hence you need good replacements ready to perform at the same level. Secondly, teams are able to read your tactics after the first 7-8 games and you need to reshuffle to keep your team unpredictable. I feel the large number of young players we have will give us that flexibility,” Mane, a two-time PKL winner suggested. Delhi certainly have a strong squad to cope with the rigours of the league, but the fitness and form of their senior players who have a point or two to prove will be key. Preparation and training Dabang Delhi were lucky to have a large chunk of their squad available for the two training camps they had ahead of the season. The first camp that was held near Dehradun enabled the players to pump up their fitness levels thanks to training in higher altitudes where the oxygen levels are relatively low. Apart from the fitness-building exercise, Delhi had a rehabilitation training programme, a first in the PKL so far. “During our first camp, our physical trainers gave us training in rehabilitation. They taught us how to quickly recover from injuries, how to recover in between games. In the five seasons of the league, this is the first time I have seen such a session of a rehab training. In such a physically demanding league, this will come quite handy for us,” Mane said. In their second camp that is ongoing at Manesar in Gurugram, the focus is completely on strategy and skill enhancement. Can Delhi shed underachievers’ tag?  There’s pressure on Delhi to perform and the burden of an unsuccessful past will be felt by the current crop of players. Hence, the coach KK Hooda has focused on keeping the team morale high. He hasn’t set the team any target and is preparing them for winning as many matches as possible. “Ideally, winning the opening 8-10 matches makes a huge difference. It doesn’t just boost your own confidence, but your opponents are under pressure too. We have trained in a way so that we win the maximum number of matches, and if we are able to execute those plans, we should be able to make the final and not just reach the playoffs,” a confident Mane said before signing off. Dabang Delhi have it all to prove, so do their players. The owners will hope the hurt of this common grievance will fuel their big to redemption.