The upcoming edition of the Pro Kabaddi League is momentous, as the tournament reaches a landmark 10th season.
Understandably, all the stakeholders want to ensure that they bring their best to the fore for what is set to be a celebration. Keeping that in mind, the Adani Sportsline-owned Gujarat Giants have kicked off their journey for the season with a great gusto, as the highly successful coach Ram Mehar Singh has taken charge of the scouting processes for the team.
The Gujarat Giants team has been working hard behind the scenes as they hope to unearth the best young players in the country at the earliest. The team have been conducting trials in Chennai and New Delhi, and will round up their selection processes in Ahmedabad, where they hope to lock in four players in the squad under the New Young Players category.
“The Gujarat Giants are looking to sign up players who we can take straight into the tournament this year. We are looking to fill the slots in the squads. Since the Pro Kabaddi League has started, the New Young Players programme has unearthed very impactful players and it has gone on to help the sport in India,” the coach said.
One of the most successful members of the Giants’ squad last year was Parteek Dahiya, who was scoring points for fun. Parteek is a product of the NYP programme and Ram Mehar Singh is hopeful of scouting more such talented players.
“There is a lot of takers for the NYP programme and plenty of young kids are very keen to play kabaddi. It will inspire and encourage youngsters to take up the sport.”
Talking about the support for the Gujarat Giants from the Adani Sportsline team, Ram Mehar was all praise. “The Adani Group has been investing heavily in sports,” said the coach. “They are always looking to encourage sports and sportspersons, and it is also nice to see that they are not only looking at results in the league but also trying to improve the sport of Kabaddi in Gujarat. The team management is very clear that the players should just concentrate on the aspect of performing, while they are always there to take care of the rest of the things that are essential on the side.”
While Ram Mehar and his coaching staff spend hours trying to finalise the best of the young talent available, the team management led by Satyam Trivedi, Head of Adani Sportsline, stands behind the think tank firmly in support.
“One of our major decisions has been to invest in new young talent in sports in India. And when it comes to the Pro Kabaddi League, we have hired one of the most successful coaches in the country, and we go by his decisions. Our coaching unit has complete freedom to do what they need to do, and while we discuss things at length, the final decision rests with the coach. He knows the sport better than me and he is the boss over here,” said Trivedi.
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