Former Pro Kabaddi league MVP and two-time champion Rohit Kumar has enjoyed a stellar career since his breakthrough campaign in Season 3 with the Patna Pirates.
The elegant raider led Patna Pirates’ attack in the absence of Pardeep Narwal towards the latter stages of Season 3 and steered the team to their first of three titles. Rohit then moved to Bengaluru Bulls and has been the team’s heartbeat, captaining the side to their maiden Pro Kabaddi league title in Season 6.
Rohit has played with and against some of Pro Kabaddi’s finest players and when asked to pick his all-time dream team in an Instagram live session on the Pro Kabaddi handle, the Bengaluru Bulls skipper had some interesting picks.
The Bulls’ ace picked himself as the center and the captain in the side. Here is the rest of the team:
Corners – Sandeep Narwal and Nitesh Kumar
Sandeep Narwal, a part of Patna Pirates’ title-winning Season 3 side, is one of the greatest all-rounders in Pro Kabaddi league history. The powerhouse is one of just two all-rounders with over 200 raid points and 300 tackle points in the league, alongside Manjeet Chhillar and the U Mumba star also has the most Super Tackles in PKL history with 28.
Since his debut in Season 5, no defender has scored more tackle points than U.P. Yoddha’s Nitesh Kumar in the Pro Kabaddi league. Nitesh is the only defender to score 100 tackle points in a single Pro Kabaddi campaign and has the second-highest tackle points average among players with over 25 appearances in the league.
Covers – Surjeet Singh and Mahender Singh
For the Right Cover spot, Rohit picked veteran Surjeet Singh. The Puneri Paltan skipper is the highest scoring Cover defender in the history of the Pro Kabaddi league with 278 tackle points. Surjeet held the record for most tackle points by a Cover defender in a season with 76, before Parvesh Bhainswal broke it in Season 6 with 86.
For the Left Cover spot, the Bengaluru Bulls went for his teammate Mahender Singh. The young defender has been a cornerstone for the Bulls since Season 5 and has been their most successful defender since his debut. Mahender has been consistent in delivering for his side and has scored over 60 tackle points in each of the last two campaigns.
Raiders – Pawan Sehrawat and Naveen Kumar
It comes as no surprise that Rohit opted to pick his teammate and good friend Pawan Sehrawat in his Pro Kabaddi dream team. Alongside his skipper, Pawan has wreaked havoc in the league since his move to Bengaluru Bulls in Season 6. The raider has scored over 600 raid points in the last two campaigns and jumped to sixth on Pro Kabaddi’s all-time points leader table.
Sensational rookie to league superstar, Naveen Kumar has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the past two campaigns, and his impact was enough for Rohit to pick him in his all-time team. The raider shattered the Pro Kabaddi record for most Super 10s in a row with 21 and led Dabang Delhi K.C. to their maiden Pro Kabaddi final in Season 7. Naveen became the third man to score over 300 raid points in a Pro Kabaddi season after Pardeep Narwal and Pawan Sehrawat and was named the league MVP this past season, becoming the second-youngest player, after Pardeep, to win the award.
Feature image courtesy: ProKabaddi.com
