Puneri Paltan Squad 2026: Meet Every Player on the Roster
Finishing top of the table with the league’s best offensive numbers should be enough to win a championship. Puneri Paltan learned in Season 12 that it is not always enough, and this exact roster is the one now tasked with finally closing out the title they narrowly missed.
Puneri Paltan’s current squad is built around captain Aslam Mustafa Inamdar, raiders Mohit Goyat and Pankaj Mohite, overseas all-rounder Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh, and a settled defensive pairing in Gaurav Khatri and Abinesh Nadarajan. This guide profiles every documented member of the squad individually and explains how this exact roster came together heading into the new season.
Puneri Paltan Squad & Playing Style Heading Into the New Season
Puneri Paltan’s identity is built on balance rather than one dominant weapon. Mohit Goyat and Pankaj Mohite give the team two genuinely productive raiders, Gaurav Khatri and Abinesh Nadarajan anchor a settled right-side defensive pairing, and captain Aslam Mustafa Inamdar contributes across both disciplines from a leadership role. That spread of proven contribution across nearly every position is exactly what produced the league’s best offensive numbers in Season 12.
The gap that cost Puneri Paltan the title was not talent but composure in the very biggest moments, losing three consecutive tie-breaker shootouts to the same opponent across a single season. Coaches building a game plan around this roster will likely focus specifically on closing out tight matches rather than adding more raw scoring firepower, since the team already has more of that than almost any rival.
Why Squad Depth Matters More Than It Looks
Even a roster this well-documented still needs its less-established names to contribute when called upon. Abhishek Tukaram Gunge, Stuwart Singh, and Sachin may not carry published career numbers yet, but any of them could be asked to shoulder a bigger raiding workload if Mohit Goyat or Pankaj Mohite need rest during a long league stage spread across multiple host cities.
The same logic applies on defense, where depth pieces like Dadaso Shivaji Pujari, Sanjay Enania, and Rohan Tupare give the coaching staff options to rotate personnel and manage fatigue across an eighteen-match campaign. A title-contending roster cannot afford to have its championship hopes rest entirely on seven proven names, and how well these depth players perform when needed will likely determine whether Puneri Paltan can finally close out the title that eluded them in Season 12.
How This Squad Was Built
Puneri Paltan’s roster reflects a franchise that prioritized keeping its league-winning core together through the auction rather than chasing wholesale changes after a runner-up finish. Head coach Ajay Thakur, a former Puneri Paltan player himself, has continued building around the same raiding and defensive foundations that carried the team to the Season 12 final.
Understanding exactly how the auction system, retention limits, and player categories work is covered in our PKL Season 13 auction guide, which explains the same rules Puneri Paltan used to keep this core together.
Raiders
Mohit Goyat
Mohit Goyat has been central to Puneri Paltan’s raiding depth for several seasons running.
Career Stats
Across 84 career matches spanning five seasons, Goyat has built up 495 raid points and 97 tackle points, for a career total of 592 points. That combination of genuine raiding output with a real defensive contribution reflects a complete player rather than a pure scoring specialist, and his composure closing out the Season 10 final remains one of the defining moments of his career.
Pankaj Mohite
Pankaj Mohite carries a career total of 542 points, built from 508 raid points and 34 tackle points, across 99 matches spanning roughly six seasons. His sustained raiding output alongside Mohit Goyat gives Puneri Paltan a genuinely balanced attacking rotation rather than a single dependent scorer.
Aditya Tushar Shinde
Aditya Tushar Shinde made an immediate impact after debuting for Puneri Paltan, quickly building up 186 raid points and roughly 4 tackle points across 35 matches, for a career total of 190 points in a single season. That kind of instant production from a debut season marks him as one of the more promising younger raiders on the roster.
Abhishek Tukaram Gunge
Abhishek Tukaram Gunge is part of the raiding rotation supporting Puneri Paltan’s more established performers. No consolidated public career statistics record currently exists for him.
Stuwart Singh
Stuwart Singh adds further raiding depth to the squad. His individual career numbers have not been compiled into any single public source at this stage.
Milad Mohajer
Milad Mohajer is Puneri Paltan’s overseas raiding addition. His playing history in the league does not currently have a consolidated public statistics profile.
Sachin
Sachin rounds out the raiding rotation for Puneri Paltan. As with several teammates in similar squad roles, detailed public career numbers are not yet widely published.
Defenders
Gaurav Khatri
Gaurav Khatri anchors the right corner position within Puneri Paltan’s defense.
Career Stats
Across 80 career matches spanning three seasons, Khatri has built a career total of 218 points, made up of 2 raid points and roughly 216 tackle points. That near-total reliance on tackling confirms his role as a specialist defender rather than a hybrid contributor, and his growing experience has made him an increasingly trusted piece of Puneri Paltan’s backline.
Abinesh Nadarajan
Abinesh Nadarajan carries a career total of 215 points, built from 3 raid points and roughly 212 tackle points, across 100 matches spanning five seasons. His pairing with Gaurav Khatri gives the coaching staff a genuinely settled right-side defensive combination heading into the new season.
Dadaso Shivaji Pujari
Dadaso Shivaji Pujari is part of the wider defensive rotation for Puneri Paltan. No consolidated public career statistics record currently exists for him.
Sanjay Enania
Sanjay Enania provides further defensive depth to the squad. His individual career numbers have not been compiled into any single public source.
Rakesh
A defender named Rakesh features on Puneri Paltan’s roster, distinct from raiders of similar names elsewhere in the league. A public career statistics profile for him has not yet been consolidated.
Vaibhav Rabade
Vaibhav Rabade rounds out the defensive rotation, giving the coaching staff options to manage fatigue across a long league stage. Career totals for him are not currently tracked in a single accessible record.
Rohan Tupare
Rohan Tupare adds to the defensive corps’ overall depth. No consolidated public career record currently exists for him.
Mohd. Amaan
Mohd. Amaan completes the wider defensive group for Puneri Paltan. His statistical history has not been consolidated into any single accessible profile.
All-Rounders
Aslam Mustafa Inamdar (Captain)
Aslam Mustafa Inamdar captains Puneri Paltan with a career total of 621 points built across both raiding and defensive contributions, though his exact match count is not consolidated in a single public source. His leadership guided the team to the top of the Season 12 league table before the narrow final loss to Dabang Delhi K.C.
Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh
Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh gives Puneri Paltan a genuinely balanced overseas contributor, with a career total of roughly 310 points, built from around 225 raid points and 85 tackle points, across 95 matches. That kind of dual-threat production from an overseas signing is exactly what makes all-rounders so sought-after at auction.
Gurdeep
Gurdeep rounds out the all-rounder rotation for Puneri Paltan. No public career statistics profile currently exists for him in a consolidated form.
Full Squad Career Stats Table
| Player | Role | Career Matches | Career Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aslam Mustafa Inamdar (Captain) | All-rounder | Not publicly consolidated | 621 |
| Mohit Goyat | Raider | 84 | 592 (495 raid, 97 tackle) |
| Pankaj Mohite | Raider | 99 | 542 (508 raid, 34 tackle) |
| Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh (overseas) | All-rounder | 95 | ~310 (~225 raid, ~85 tackle) |
| Gaurav Khatri | Defender (right corner) | 80 | 218 (2 raid, ~216 tackle) |
| Abinesh Nadarajan | Defender (right cover) | 100 | 215 (3 raid, ~212 tackle) |
| Aditya Tushar Shinde | Raider | 35 | 190 (186 raid, ~4 tackle) |
| Abhishek Tukaram Gunge | Raider | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Stuwart Singh | Raider | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Milad Mohajer (overseas) | Raider | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Sachin | Raider | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Dadaso Shivaji Pujari | Defender | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Sanjay Enania | Defender | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Rakesh | Defender | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Vaibhav Rabade | Defender | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Rohan Tupare | Defender | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Mohd. Amaan | Defender | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Gurdeep | All-rounder | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
Notice how many genuinely documented performers this roster carries. Seven players here have precise, sourced career totals, giving Puneri Paltan more statistical depth than several rival franchises even after their narrow Season 12 final defeat, a depth advantage that should give the coaching staff genuine confidence heading into the new campaign.
Why This Squad Fell Just Short in Season 12
Puneri Paltan finished the Season 12 league stage first with a +88 score difference, the best all-round campaign of any team that year. Their run through the postseason included a tie-breaker loss to Dabang Delhi K.C. in Qualifier 1, a bounce-back win over Telugu Titans in Qualifier 2, and finally a 31-28 loss to the same Delhi side in the final itself. The complete story of that rivalry, including all three dramatic Season 12 meetings, is covered in our Dabang Delhi K.C. vs Puneri Paltan head-to-head guide.
What This Roster Means for the Season Ahead
Puneri Paltan enters the new season with genuine unfinished business, returning most of the core that produced the league’s best offensive numbers a year ago. Whether Mohit Goyat, Pankaj Mohite, and the settled defensive pairing of Gaurav Khatri and Abinesh Nadarajan can finally convert league-stage dominance into a championship will be the central storyline heading into the new campaign. Tracking how this roster performs against the rest of the league is easiest through our PKL points table, while our Puneri Paltan team page covers the complete Season 12 recap and schedule outlook.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who captains Puneri Paltan?
Aslam Mustafa Inamdar captains Puneri Paltan, with a career total of 621 points built across both raiding and defensive contributions.
Who leads Puneri Paltan’s raiding attack?
Mohit Goyat and Pankaj Mohite are the two most statistically productive raiders, with career totals of 592 and 542 points respectively, both built over multiple seasons with the franchise.
Did Puneri Paltan win the Season 12 title?
No. Puneri Paltan finished the league stage first but lost the final 31-28 to Dabang Delhi K.C., finishing as runners-up despite posting the best overall league campaign of any team that season.
Who coaches Puneri Paltan?
Ajay Thakur, a former Puneri Paltan player, currently coaches the franchise as it looks to finally convert strong league form into a championship.
Why do some Puneri Paltan players lack published career stats?
Detailed career statistics tend to be consolidated online only for established performers with heavy playing time. Several squad depth players do not yet have a single public career record, even if they have contributed meaningful minutes for the team.
How close did Puneri Paltan come to winning the Season 12 title?
Extremely close. Two of their three Season 12 meetings with Dabang Delhi K.C. were decided by tie-breaker shootouts, including a 34-34 draw in Qualifier 1, showing how narrow the margin actually was between the two teams across the entire campaign.
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