Haryana Steelers

Kabaddi has been popular in India since ancient times. However, the game gained immense  popularity in the 20th century. The introduction of Kabaddi in Olympic Games at Calcutta in 1938 and the establishment of The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) in 1973 are proof of Kabaddi’s popularity.

To popularise the game further and based on the idea of the Indian Premier League, Pro Kabaddi League was launched in India in 2014. Although Haryana Steelers made an entry to the league in 2017, they reached the playoffs in their very first season and proved their mettle as a team.

Haryana Steelers Team History

Haryana Steelers team is one of the newest teams to have stepped into the game of Kabaddi. They played their first match at Sonipat in the year 2017. While the captain of the Haryana Steelers is the veteran defender Joginder Narwal, Manpreet Singh, the former coach of Gujarat Giants, will be guiding the boys. The colours- blue, white, and red represent the team’s identity. 

Haryana Steelers Owners

The Haryana Steelers team owner is JSW sports, a part of the Jindal South West group. From the start, the team has made their mark. The Haryana Steelers coach and the Haryana Steelers captain have managed to elevate the performance of Haryana Steelers Kabaddi levels. Every player in the Haryana Steelers players list aims to improve their gameplay and give us an amazing match to watch. The owners along with the entire Haryana Steelers team wish to take kabaddi to a next level. 

Haryana Steelers Stats

Haryana Steelers Match Schedule 2022

Haryana Steelers Team and Players

Haryana Steelers Kabaddi team is based out of Panchkula, Haryana. The two-time title winning left-corner defender Joginder Narwal is the new captain of the Haryana Steelers team. They play their home matches at Tau Devi Lal Stadium. The Haryana Steelers stand for resilience, strength, and tenacity. Haryana Steelers players have been playing superbly and are determined to increase the standards of their team.

Here is the list of Haryana Steelers players: -

Best Haryana Steelers Players

While the departure of captain and famed raider Vikas Kandola is saddening, the management has brought major overhaul in the team this season. Nevertheless, let’s take a look at the best players of Haryana Steelers this season:

Raiders:

• K. Prapanjan: With 387 points, 7 super raids and 10 Super 10s, Prapanjan with meticulous gameplay during raiding can turn the tide in the favour of his team.
• Rakesh Narwal:  With 138 points scalped in 44 matches, Rakesh Narwal is the countable underdog and one of the best players for the Steelers. It will be interesting to see how Manjeet Singh is able to cash in his talent.
• Manjeet:  Manjeet has scored 369 raiding points in 64 matches till date. He can play a vital role in the machinery of Steelers if he, the former Tamil Thalaivas player, can utilise his height during the raid.
• Vinay:  With 176 raid points in 38 matches, this Haryana Steelers player has been retained. While he has not had much success in the past, his role will be to revive the  major raiders, which if done successfully can lead to the Steelers becoming the league champions this time.
• Meetu:  The tall and thin raider, Meetu, can be groomed into utilising his height when there are less defenders present on the opponents team. His 75 raid points in 16 matches is a testimony to the talent he possesses.

Defenders:

• Jaideep: The left-cover defender Mohit has scored 66 tackle points in 22 matches in the PKL. Moreover, he finished 2nd in the total tackle points standings, which shows that he can take advantage of coach Manjeet Singh’s practice of aggressive defence.
• Joginder Narwal: The left-corner defender and skipper of Haryana Steelers has led the Dabangg Delhi to season title by scoring 49 tackle points in 22 matches. Speculations claim Joginder to be paired with the Iranian player Amirhossein Bastami.
• Mohit: The right-corner defender has scored 42 tackle points in 22 matches and is best known for his ankle hold. His experience along with Jaideep can prove beneficial for the team as well.

Allrounders

• Nitin Rawal: Nitin Rawal is perhaps the only defender in Haryana’s squad. While his allround performance will prove advantageous to the team, it remains to be seen if he can shoulder the responsibility of being a sole allrounder in the team.

Haryana Steelers’ Strengths and Weaknesses

Strength of Haryana Steelers Team

The defence of the Haryana Steelers looks great on paper, especially since they have retained the left cover defender Jaideep and the right cover defender Mohit. Moreover, with the presence of skipper Joginder Narwal and the Iranian player Amirhossein Bastami, there is no doubt that the Steelers’ side is impregnable.

Weakness of Haryana Steelers Team

On the other hand, the raiding department of the team lacks any strong raider who can score more than 200 points alone. In addition, Manjeet and Meetu will need to use their height, especially when a few defenders are on the opponents' team.

Aside from that, raiders like Rakesh Narwal and Prapanjan will need to get on the rising curve of their performance. This will ensure the responsibility of scoring does not fall alone on the primary raiders of the team. 

Haryana Steelers Records

The Haryana Steelers team started their journey in 2017. They made a decent start and reached the playoffs. But in 2018-2019, the nascent Kabaddi team finished at the bottom of zone A. In PKL 2019, the Haryana Steelers Kabaddi team reached the playoffs with the help of their strong raiders but lost the trophy due to their defensive glitch in the eliminator against U Mumba.

Overall, 2019 was a good season for the Haryana Steelers players. On the other hand, the last season witnessed an average performance from the team as they failed to qualify for the elimination round. However, in their journey since 2017, Haryana Steelers have made some records. Let’s take a glance at those records:

• 2017: The first season of Haryana Steelers in the PKL was a success for the debutant team, especially as their player topped the leaderboards in most tackle points and the most High 5s. Surender Nada topped the leaderboard for most tacke points with 80 points and for 9 high 5s in 21 matches.
• 2018: The second edition of Pro Kabaddi League was not much of a success in terms of making records. The team made only two records and ranked at the fourth position on them. Their records were in the category of team successful raids per match (16.41) and the successful raid percent (38.36%).
• 2019: Haryana Steelers had the fourth-highest successful raids (377), successful raids per match (17.96) and the successful raid percent (39.03%). Moreover, the team also had the fifth-highest successful tackles per match (10.68) and the team average points scored (35.17).
• 2021: Haryana Steelers stood fifth in most successful raid percent with 39.2%, third in successful tackle percent with 39.25% and scored the fifth-highest super raid in the league (22).

Haryana Steeler’s FAQ’s