Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 14 : Ahead of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 2024 season, Bengal Warriors coach Prashant Surve on Wednesday shared insights into the team's strategies and goals.
Surve highlighted the retention of key young talent and the lessons learned from past seasons, aiming to build a squad ready to compete for the top position in the league.
A total of 88 players were retained across three categories: 22 in the Elite Retained Players (ERP) category, 26 in the Retained Young Players (RYP) category, and 40 in the Existing New Young Players (ENYP) category. Non-retained players, including stars such as Pawan Sehrawat, Pardeep Narwal, Maninder Singh, Fazel Atrachali, and Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh, will be available for the PKL Season 11 Player Auction, scheduled for August 15-16, 2024, in Mumbai.
Surve emphasized that the team has retained promising young talent and learned from past mistakes, aiming for improved performance in the upcoming season.
"Every season is a different matter. We had periods where things might not have gone our way but we also had some very promising players who performed to the best of their abilities. We will build a team that is ready to fight for trophies. We have retained some top young players who have learnt from their mistakes and now it is time to fight to finish at the very top of the table," Surve told ANI.
The coach also highlighted their target players for the new season.
"We have a list of players we want to work with this season. All the players that we will choose will be brought into the team with a set mindset. At the end of the day, we have some players that we want to target and if we bring them into the team, it will help us achieve all our goals for the season," the head coach added.
Surve expressed gratitude for the support he has received.
"I am very thankful to Capri Sports for putting their trust in me and my coaching team for the upcoming season. I have worked closely with a lot of the New Young Players in the Bengal Warriors, and together, with their support, we can build a team worthy of going all the way," he concluded.
Having been with the Bengal Warriors since PKL Season 9 as an Assistant Coach, Surve now takes over as head coach from veteran K Bhaskaran. He will be joined by Praveen Yadav, a former kabaddi player and new entrant to the PKL, as they work together to develop a strong squad.
The Kolkata-based franchise, which won the PKL title in 2019 (Season 7), has qualified for the Playoffs four times in the last decade. In Season 10, the Warriors narrowly missed the Playoffs, finishing 7th but remained in contention for the knockout stages until the final rounds.
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