We have a look at the SWOT analysis of U.P Yoddha
Strengths:
Pardeep Narwal: U.P Yoddha lacked a bit of firepower in their ranks in PKL 7, in the auction they bought arguably the best raider in PKL history in Pardeep Narwal, with the “Dubki King” in their side U.P have a chance against any team.
Corners:
In Right corner Nitesh and left corner Sumit U.P arguably have the best corners in PKL 8. In PKL 7 the duo collectively scored 152 tackle points, comfortably the most by any corner combination, and overall only Fazel scored more tackle points than Nitesh and Sumit. With Nitesh and Sumit in their ranks U.P will be confident of stopping most raiders.
Weakness:
Covers:
U.P have a superb raiding unit and an enviable corner combination, however the only chink in their armor is their covers. Ashu has struggled for consistency, while U.P are going to rely on an NYP for the left cover role.
Opportunities:
Shrikant Jadhav:
Shrikant Jadhav has played a big role in helping U.P reach play-offs in the last 2 seasons. The strongly built raider is improving constantly in the last 2 seasons and in the presence of Pardeep Narwal has a chance to take his game to another level and form a deadly partnership with Pardeep Narwal.
Threat:
U.P have an enviable starting 7 but are little light in bench strength, if one of Pardeep/ Shrikant or Nitesh/ Sumit suffer an injury or loss of form, then U.P do not have alternatives even half of their quality.
Expectations:
In the last 3 seasons U.P were not considered favorites as they didn’t have a number of stars like the current team, hence they could get away with slow starts. However, in PKL 8 they are among the favorites and are expected to click from the start, a slow start can cause friction and rift in the squad, and it will be interesting to see if U.P can weather away another slow start.
