Pro Kabaddi League: Haryana Steelers announce new captain for the ninth season

As of now, Joginder Narwal hails as one of the most experienced players in the Pro Kabaddi League. His son made his first appearance in the league last year for Delhi.

However, his father moved on to Haryana while the reigning champions retained him. The Steelers were introduced in PKL before the beginning of the fifth season. 

They entered the playoffs in their debut season but finished at the bottom of the points table in the following edition. They lost their last match and narrowly missed the top six during season eight. 

Joginder Narwal will ensure that his teammates maintain focus under pressure and deliver under tight situations. Haryana recently declared Manpreet Singh as the new head coach, who pulled together a strong squad.

Former captain Vikash Kandola has switched to the Bengaluru Bulls. K. Prapanjan, Manjeet Dahiya, Meetu Sharma, and Vinay Tewathia, among others, will lead the raiding department in Haryana. 

The defensive unit includes Joginder Narwal, left cover Jaideep Dahiya, right cover Mohit Nandal and Iran's Amirhossein Bastami. The Steelers will face former champions Bengal Warriors on October 8, 2022. 

Kabaddi star Rahul Chaudhari on the rise

Before the PKL commences, the 36the National Games acted as a tune-up to the most awaited kabaddi tournament. Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra had a thrilling encounter in the final, but the former emerged as the champions. 

The two teams were neck to neck in the summit clash, but Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) star Rahul Chaudhari increased his pace in the last minute to lead his team to victory. 

The Maharashtra defence unit featured Shankar Bhimraj Gadai, Arkam Shaikh, Mayur Jagannath Kadam, and Kiran Magar produced quality tackles and helped their team secure a lead at 7-5 in the 10th minute.

Shortly after, Pankaj Mohite tried to increase the gap, but the Uttar Pradesh defence unit, which has the likes of Sahul Kumar and Harendra Kumar, sabotaged Mohite's moves. 

Abhishek Singh and Rahul Chaudhari were the stars in UP's snapback when Maharashtra was leading at 11-10. Maharashtra maintained their lead at 18-17 thanks to Akash Santosh Shinde's performance around the 33rd minute.

However, the tables turned when Uttar Pradesh's Rahul Chaudhari threw in an all-out and helped his team overcome the opponent until the score read 23-20. 

Mohite continued to support Maharashtra, and the scores equalised at 23-23 after a brilliant raid. In the end, Chaudhari clinched a vital bonus point and the UP defence unit set up a brilliant tackle that put them in the lead at 25-23. 

Uttar Pradesh maintained the pace and won the men's kabaddi title at the 36th National Games Gujarat 2022.