Monu Goyat, the top-priced player in Pro Kabaddi League has replaced the injured Surender Nada as the captain of JSW Sports-owned Haryana Steelers. Nada is ruled out for the rest of the season. Naveen Bajaj is the new addition to the team in place of the injured skipper.
Pro Kabaddi League team Haryana Steelers, on the brink of the start of their home-leg of the PKL, are raring to go against the Gujarat Fortune Giants in their first home game of the season at the Motilal Nehru School of Sports in Sonepat.
The Haryana Steelers, looking to start afresh, today (Thursday) announced that star raider Monu Goyat will be the Captain of the team for the rest of the season, as defender Surender Nada, who was injured during the Haryana Steeler’s first game against Puneri Paltan is ruled out for the remainder of the season. Monu will lead the team with the game starting at home tomorrow (Friday), and is himself back on the mat post a bout of the flu that kept him out of action in Chennai.
Announcing the captain for the rest of the season, Coach Rambir Singh Khokkar shared, “Monu is one of our most experienced players on the squad and was the most obvious choice when we were looking for a new leader. Surender and Monu have their own strengths and styles of leadership and I am confident that while Monu cannot replace Surender, he will surely deliver.”
Surender, who has a broken arm, was also replaced by 23-year-old raider Naveen Bajaj, who currently represents the Railways and was spotted by Haryana Steelers Coach Khokkar during the Senior Nationals. Coach Khokkar, who announced the new addition, was confident of this choice and shared that he would strongly complement the team. Commenting on the changes, Khokkar shared, “We had consciously built a significantly large team to account for the length of the season and possible injuries, which are always part of a game. That forethought in building a deep squad helps us minimize the impact of these injuries on the overall performance of the team and we are looking forward to delivering our best for the rest of the season.”
The Steelers will begin their home leg at the Motilal Nehru School of Sport where they will begin by playing Season 5 finalists Gujarat Fortune Giants on Friday, 12th of October. That game will be followed by games against UMumba (October 13), Puneri Paltan (October 14), Jaipur Pink Panthers (October 16), UMumba again (October 17) and end their home leg against Delhi team, Dabang Delhi on the 18th of October.
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