Gujarat Fortunegiants coach Manpreet Singh is one of the finest in the Pro Kabaddi league.

A Pro Kabaddi title winner as captain of the Patna Pirates in Season 3, Manpreet was appointed coach of the Gujarat Fortunegiants in their debut campaign in Season 5, where he led them to the final, only to be beaten by the team he earlier skippered to the title.

Manpreet took the Fortunegiants to their second-straight final in Season 6 but Pawan Sehrawat’s incredible performance in the final denied his side the title. Despite spending his playing career as a raider, Manpreet’s teams are known for their defensive discipline and are one of the hardest teams to score points against. He proved his emphasis on defence by revealing his Pro Kabaddi Dream Team featuring players from today as well as from the past during an Instagram live chat on the Pro Kabaddi handle.

Here’s the side the Fortunegiants coach picked:

Corners – Surender Nada and Sandeep Narwal

For the Left Corner spot, Manpreet picked Surender Nada, one of the finest kabaddi players to have ever played the sport. Nada spent the first three seasons of the Pro Kabaddi league with U Mumba and went to three-straight finals, winning the title in Season 2. Nada won the Best Defender award in Season 5 and is 12th on the list of most tackle points in the Pro Kabaddi league with 222 in 71 matches.

On the opposite flank, the Fortunegiants coach picked former teammate and current U Mumba Right Corner Sandeep Narwal. The bruising all-rounder was part of Patna Pirates title-winning side in Season 3 and is one just four defenders with over 300 tackle points in the Pro Kabaddi league. Sandeep is one of only two all-rounders with over 200 raid points and 300 tackle points in the Pro Kabaddi league, alongside Manjeet Chhillar.

Covers – Parvesh Bhainswal and Sunil Kumar

This was a no-brainer for Manpreet. Parvesh Bhainswal and Sunil Kumar have been part of the Gujarat Fortunegiants since the inception of the franchise as two standout defenders in the past two Pro Kabaddi campaigns.

Bhainswal set the Pro Kabaddi league record for most points by a Cover Defender in Season 6 with 86, while Sunil, who became the youngest captain in Pro Kabaddi history in Season 6, finished fourth on the list of most tackle points in Season 6 with 76.

Raiders – Pardeep Narwal and Naveen Kumar

For the two raiding spots in his team, Manpreet went for Patna Pirates’ Pardeep Narwal and Dabang Delhi K.C.’s Naveen Kumar.

Pardeep is the greatest raider in the history of the Pro Kabaddi league and holds almost all of the league’s raiding records. The three-time Pro Kabaddi champion has won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award and the Best Raider Award twice and is the only raider in Pro Kabaddi history to score over 1000 raid points.

After a stellar rookie campaign in Season 6, Naveen Kumar took over the Pro Kabaddi league with his unmatched consistency that saw him score 21 consecutive Super 10s and counting. He led Dabang Delhi K.C. to the final, where they were beaten by Bengal Warriors. However, there was some solace for the youngster as he was named the league’s Most Valuable Player for his stellar campaign.

All-rounder – Rohit Gulia

In what was seemingly another tried and tested pick from Manpreet, the Fortunegiants coach chose Rohit Gulia as the team’s specialist all-rounder.

Gulia’s influence on the team has risen with each passing season since his debut in Season 5. The all-rounder had his best campaign in Season 7, where he finished with 142 points, the second-highest tally among all-rounders. Gulia also captained the side in the latter half of the campaign, proving how highly Manpreet values and rates the excellent all-rounder.

Feature image courtesy: ProKabaddi.com

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Gujarat Fortunegiants Pro Kabaddi League