Gujarat Giants, who have had a poor campaign so far in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 12 (PKL 12), suffered a major blow as their raider, V. Ajith Kumar, has been ruled out of the remainder of the edition.
Ajith Kumar Ruled Out of PKL 12
In the PKL 12 Player Auction, the Giants acquired him for INR 36.30 lacs. The raide earned one point from a couple of matches he played in the season before sustaining an injury, keeping him out of action for the rest of the campaign.
Ajith earned zero points from three raids against U Mumba and was not effective in the five raids he put against Paltan, too. His only point this season came from a tackle on Stuwart Singh against the Pune-based franchise.
Aryavardhan Navale Finds a Place
Ajith has been replaced by young raider Aryavardhan Navale in the Gujarat Giants’ squad for the rest of the season.
“Navale replaces V. Ajith Kumar, who won’t be with us for the rest of the season due to injury,” Gujarat Giants posted on social media.
In the previous season, Navale earned 45 raid points in 68 raids across 13 matches with the Puneri Paltan. He played his first match for the Giants against the Jaipur Pink Panthers on Tuesday and returned with four points (three touch points and one tackle point) from 10 days.
Also Read: What Is The Golden Raid Rule In PKL?
The Giants are placed 11th in the PKL 2025 standings with two points and a score difference of -13 from four encounters, including one win and three losses.
They lost their season opener in a tie-breaker against U Mumba after the full-time score read 29-29. The Gujarat-based franchise secured a 41-19 loss to Puneri Paltan, before registering their first victory of the season against Tamil Thaliavas with a scoreline of 37-28.
Gujarat Giants are yet to lift a PKL trophy. While they were runners-up in Season 6 and Season 6, the PKL crown seems to be elusive as of now.
