3 Kabaddi Legends Who Flopped as Coach in PKL
The 11th season of the Pro Kabaddi League (Pro Kabaddi League) is scheduled to start on 18 October. All the teams are preparing for the upcoming PKL 11 with their coaching staff. Several teams saw a change in their coaching setup, roping legendary ex-Kabaddi players.
In the PKL history, many of the veteran players tried their luck as coaches. However, under their guidance, the team completely failed to perform. In this article, we’ll tell you about three such veteran players. The two veterans on this list won the PKL title as a player in their career but proved unsuccessful as coaches.
Anup Kumar
Anup Kumar ranks among the Pro Kabaddi League's greatest veterans. He was last seen captaining the Jaipur Pink Panthers in the 6th season. Earlier, in his captaincy, U Mumba won their only PKL title in the season. After retiring from the PKL as a player, he was seen as the head coach of Puneri Paltan in PKL 7 and PKL 8. Under Anup’s coaching in season 7, Paltan won just 7 matches and finished in 10th position. In PKL 8, Paltan successfully qualified for the playoff but was unable to advance further in the competition.
Manjeet Chhillar
Manjeet Chhillar, one of the most fierce defenders in Pro Kabaddi League history, did not have a good coaching record either. Manjeet has a total of 391 tackle points in 132 matches in his league career. He was last seen playing for Dabang Delhi KC in PKL 8, where he was a key player in the team's title win. Manjeet was later appointed as an assistant coach by the Telugu Titans in PKL 9. Under his coaching, Telugu Titans finished last in the points table, winning just 2 out of 22 games.
Rakesh Kumar
Raider Rakesh Kumar, who debuted for Patna Pirates in the inaugural season of Pro Kabaddi League, was last seen playing for the Telugu Titans camp in season 5. Rakesh has 260 points in his PKL career in 55 matches. Rakesh has 186 raid points and 74 tackle points to his name. However, he proved unsuccessful as a head coach for the Haryana Steelers. Under his coaching, the Haryana Steelers could not make it to the semi-finals even after reaching the playoffs in PKL 7. Whereas, Haryana Steelers finished in 7th position in PKL 8.
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