UP Yoddhas upbeat about their Pro Kabaddi League season 10 opening encounter against U Mumba

UP Yoddhas who just a few days back announced iconic raider Pardeep Narwal as their captain, are upbeat about their opening encounter as the Pro Kabaddi League returns to the home and away format for the first time post-COVID-19. UP Yoddhas finished their season 9 campaign in fourth place with 71 points from 22 games after crashing out in the eliminator stage.

This season will also see the Yoddhas play their home leg after a gap of two years at the Noida Indoor Stadium, Noida from December 29, 2023, to January 3, 2024.

The opening night of the 10th edition of the Pro Kabaddi League will be a double header which will see UP Yoddhas take the mat in the second and final game of the night.

UP Yoddhas in their last encounter against U Mumba in Season 9 registered a 38-28 thumping win with Pardeep Narwal & Rohit Tomar spearheading the attack as they ended collecting a total of 21 points together. UP Yoddhas have defeated U Mumba on 5 occasions from ten encounters so far till Season 9.

Ahead of the first match, Jasveer Singh, Head Coach, UP Yoddhas said, "We are ready for the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 challenge and as a team we have spent a significant amount of time together, both inside and outside training sessions, which will undoubtedly help us perform better in the upcoming season. Our BK Kabaddi Academy has played a pivotal role in shaping all the players, forming a cohesive team and producing some young talents who are ready to showcase their true mettle on the mat. I would like to express my gratitude to our owners, the GMR Group, for consistently having faith in us and this time we will leave no stone unturned to bring happiness to them and our fans all around.

Former captain and top defender of UP Yoddhas, Nitesh Kumar will have the responsibility of keeping the defensive unit intact on his shoulders along with able support from Ashu Singh from the right, and Sumit from the left. Captain Pardeep Narwal, also known as Dubki King and one of the most successful raiders in the history of PKL will take the charge of raiding department along with Surender Gill who has impressed everyone with his stellar performance in the previous seasons. Gurdeep, Nitin Panwar and Gulveer Singh will be some other players to be watched out for, given their noticeable performances in the past season.

Before the auction, UP Yoddhas announced their retention list for this season, which included players such as Pardeep Narwal (Raider), Nitesh Kumar (Defender), Surender Gill (Raider), Sumit (Defender), Ashu Singh (Defender), Mahipal (Raider), and Anil Kumar (Raider). With 2.06 crore in purse for the auction, the Yoddhas acquired the services of players like Helvic Simuyu Wanjala (All-rounder, 13 lakhs), Samuel Wanjala (All-rounder, 13 lakhs), Vijay Malik (All-rounder, 85 lakhs), Gurdeep (All-rounder, 20 lakhs), Harendra Kumar (Defender, 13 lakhs), Gulveer Singh (Raider, 13 lakhs), Nitin Panwar (All-rounder, 13 lakhs), and Kiran Laxman Magar (Defender, 13 lakhs). From the New Young Players Program, the Yoddhas picked up young talents like Hitesh (Defender), Gagana Gowda HR (Raider), and Shivam Chaudhary (Raider).

The home venues for each team in the Pro Kabaddi League Season Ten are spread across various cities: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, Noida, Mumbai, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Patna, Delhi, Kolkata and Panchkula. (ANI)