India named a 12-member kabaddi team for the continental kabaddi event that is scheduled to be held after a gap of 6 years. The tournament is slated to begin on June 27th and end on June 30th 2023. What has caught the eye of many fans is that Pardeep Narwal, the all-time leading raider in the Indian Pro Kabaddi League has been left out of the 12-member squad. 

Additionally, the former captain of the Indian Kabaddi team Deepak Niwas Hooda has also been excluded from the squad. The squad selection has followed trials for the Asian Kabaddi Championship that took place at the Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna, Bihar. 

Surender Nada, Surender Gill, Siddharth Desai, Girish Maruti Ernak, Maninder Singh Ravinder Pahal and Mahender Singh were some of the other popular players who could not make it into the 12-member squad. 

Veterans Naveen Kumar and Arjun Deshwal alongside Pawan Sehrawat have been included in the 12-member squad. Sehrawat is set to rejoin the team after recovering from a major injury that ended his PKL season in 2022. 

Surjeet Singh and Nitesh Kumar are two veterans who would lead the defence. Sunil Kumar, Vishal Bhardwaj and Parvesh Bhainswal are the trio who complete the defence of the team. 

All-rounder Nitin Rawal has also been included in the squad. The team will be coached by Bhaskaran Edachery, Ashan Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar who have worked as former national coaches. 

India goes into the Asian Kabaddi Championship as the most successful team in history winning 7 Gold medals from the 8 editions played so far. 

The last time Asian Championship was played i.e. in 2017, India came out as the champions defeating Pakistan in the final. The tournament was played in Gorgan, Iran. 

Indian kabaddi team: Arjun Deshwal, Naveen Kumar, Sachin, Aslam Inamdar, Mohit Goyat, Sunil Kumar, Parvesh Bhainswal, Nitin Rawal, Nitesh Kumar, Surjeet Singh, Vishal Bhardwaj, Pawan Sehrawat

Stand-by players: Vijay Malik, Shubham Shinde
Coaches: Ashan Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar
Manager: Bhaskaran Edachery