Pro Kabaddi League: Bhaskaran raring to go

After serving as coach of 2015 PKL title-winner U Mumba in the previous seasons, Bhaskaran is raring to steer the team to new heights in PKL 6. He talked to DTNext about his squad and plans for the upcoming season after the conclusion of the two-day auction in Mumbai.

I wanted to strike a balance between youth and experience. That was the thought behind retaining Ajay Thakur and Amit Hooda. Last year, we were unlucky. Despite playing well with a lot of youngsters, the results didn’t go our way. It was a tough season as we finished 11th overall (sixth in the zone). There is a huge fan following in Tamil Nadu for the team. Kabaddi is not just a sport for them. It is a way of life. They were extremely disappointed after we finished the season in such a fashion. I wanted to make sure that it doesn’t repeat in the upcoming edition.

There are very few foreign players who are on par with Indians. Iran is the best among them and next comes South Korea. We didn’t have the budget to invest a lot on Iranian players. I will make sure they (Chan Sik Park and Jae Min Lee) fit into our system well and help us get a good position on the table.

A lot of teams have preferred young blood and I can’t read what the other team owners and management members have in their minds. Kabaddi is a team game and in my opinion, having youngsters alone will not help you clinch the title. When experience combines with the energy and speed of the youngsters, the outcome will be fruitful.

He wasn’t as his best last year as he was hampered with a few injuries. But, I didn’t expect him to go for his base price. We don’t lay a lot of emphasis on the price of the player. All I care about is his performance and his contribution to the team.

Our plan was to get quality players rather than filling the maximum squad size of 25. Since the team is based in Chennai, I had a chat with the management about picking a few local players to satisfy the fans. Hence, we bought the likes of Pradap, D Gopu and Jayaseelan.

I have been in constant touch with him. I met him recently in Chennai and discussed a few things about the auction. He is doing a much bigger service to the sport by grooming young talents in the state.

We had already spent about Rs 1.8 crore on our retained players. The composition matters a lot. I was interested in signing Monu Goyat. But, he went for Rs 1.51 crore which we couldn’t afford. We couldn’t get the players we targeted but I am happy with the squad I have picked.