Haryana Steelers Squad 2026: Every Player Profile & Career Stats
A championship team does not always look like one on paper. Haryana Steelers’s title-winning core carries fewer eye-popping career numbers than several of their rivals, yet this squad still found a way to lift a first PKL trophy in Season 11, proving that defensive discipline and squad cohesion can outweigh raw individual firepower in a knockout format.
Haryana Steelers Squad is built around defensive captain Jaideep, veteran raider Vinay, and a supporting cast anchored by consistent, if less individually celebrated, contributors across both raiding and defense. This guide profiles every documented member of the squad individually, breaks down career numbers where public records exist, and explains how this exact roster came together heading into the new season, position by position and player by player.
How This Squad Was Built
Haryana Steelers’s roster reflects a franchise built around defensive discipline rather than flashy individual raiding numbers, a strategy that paid off with a maiden title in Season 11 despite the team lacking the kind of headline-grabbing star that anchors several rival rosters. Head coach Manpreet Singh’s approach has consistently emphasized a settled defensive core and controlled raiding rather than chasing marquee individual talent at auction, a philosophy that has held steady across multiple seasons regardless of who was actually available on the open market.
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 Haryana Steelers used to build the roster that eventually delivered their first championship after years of steady, unglamorous roster construction.
Defenders
Jaideep (Captain)
Jaideep captains Haryana Steelers from the left cover position, and his leadership has been central to the franchise’s rise from newer entrant to genuine championship contender in a relatively short span of seasons.
Career Stats
Across 100 career matches spanning five seasons, Jaideep has built a career total of roughly 276 points, almost entirely from tackling. That workload across a full five seasons reflects a defender the coaching staff has trusted with the captaincy and a starting role consistently since the franchise’s earlier years, a level of continuity that has helped Haryana Steelers develop a genuinely settled defensive identity.
Captaincy and Title Run
Jaideep’s leadership was central to Haryana Steelers’s Season 11 title run, when the team went from a fifth-place league finish through the Play-in round and all the way to a 32-23 win over Patna Pirates in the final. Leading a squad through that kind of unlikely playoff run, beating higher-seeded opponents along the way, speaks to a captain who commands genuine respect within the dressing room rather than simply holding the armband as a formality. The fuller story of that championship rivalry with Patna Pirates is covered in our Haryana Steelers vs Patna Pirates head-to-head guide.
Rahul Sethpal
Rahul Sethpal has built a career total of roughly 264 points across 99 matches spanning five seasons, operating at right cover. His consistent playing time alongside Jaideep over multiple seasons has helped form one of the more settled defensive partnerships in the league, a pairing that has grown more effective the longer the two have played together.
Manikandan N
Manikandan N is part of the wider defensive rotation for Haryana Steelers, giving the coaching staff another body to call upon. No consolidated public career statistics record currently exists for him.
Ankit
Ankit provides further defensive depth to the squad. His individual career numbers have not been compiled into any single public source at this stage.
Sachin
Sachin rounds out the defensive rotation, giving the coaching staff options to manage fatigue across a long league stage. A public career statistics profile for him has not yet been consolidated.
Ritik
Ritik adds to the defensive corps’ overall depth. Career totals for him are not currently tracked in a single accessible record.
Hardeep
Hardeep is part of the broader defensive squad depth. No consolidated public career record currently exists for him.
Rahul
A second player named Rahul features among the defensive rotation, distinct from Rahul Sethpal elsewhere on the roster. His statistical history has not been consolidated into any single accessible profile.
Zubair
Zubair completes the wider defensive group for Haryana Steelers. A consolidated public career record for him has not yet been compiled.
Raiders
Vinay
Vinay has built a genuinely productive raiding career with Haryana Steelers, accumulating roughly 379 career points, made up of around 372 raid points and 7 tackle points, across 76 matches spanning approximately six seasons. His raiding output across multiple seasons has made him the closest thing this roster has to a proven, reliable go-to scoring option, and his willingness to play a more controlled, possession-focused style fits perfectly within Haryana Steelers’s broader defense-first identity rather than clashing with it.
Vikas Ramadas Jadhav
Vikas Ramadas Jadhav is part of the raiding rotation supporting Vinay. No consolidated public career statistics record currently exists for him.
Shivam Anil Patare
Shivam Anil Patare made an immediate impact after debuting for Haryana Steelers, outplaying established defenders during a playoff run despite being a relatively new addition to the roster. A fully consolidated public career statistics record for him has not yet been compiled.
Jaya Soorya NS
Jaya Soorya NS adds further raiding depth to the squad. His individual career numbers have not been compiled into any single public source at this stage.
Vishal S. Tate
Vishal S. Tate rounds out the raiding options behind Vinay. A public career statistics profile for him has not yet been consolidated.
Mayank Saini
Mayank Saini gives the coaching staff another raiding option to rotate through the lineup. Career totals for him are not currently tracked in a single accessible record.
Ghanshyam Roka Magar
Ghanshyam Roka Magar is Haryana Steelers’s overseas raiding addition. His playing history in the league does not currently have a consolidated public statistics profile.
Shahan Sha Mohammed
Shahan Sha Mohammed completes the raiding depth chart as a second overseas signing. As with several teammates in similar squad roles, detailed public career numbers are not yet widely published.
All-Rounders
Sahil
Sahil gives Haryana Steelers a player capable of contributing in both raiding and defensive situations depending on how a match unfolds on any given night. A public career statistics record for him has not yet been consolidated.
Ashish
Ashish rounds out the all-rounder rotation for Haryana Steelers. No public career statistics profile currently exists for him in a consolidated form.
Haryana Steelers’s Playing Style Heading Into the New Season
Every PKL franchise develops an identity shaped by whichever approach actually wins them matches, and Haryana Steelers’s identity is unmistakably built around defensive control rather than raiding spectacle. Jaideep and Rahul Sethpal’s combined presence at left and right cover gives the team a settled, experienced backline that has been together for multiple seasons, a level of continuity that is genuinely rare across the wider league and difficult for opposing raiders to consistently break down.
That defensive foundation lets the raiding unit, led by Vinay, play a more conservative, possession-focused style rather than needing to chase big individual point totals every match. Coaches building a game plan around this kind of roster typically prioritize limiting an opponent’s scoring chances first, then relying on measured, controlled raiding to accumulate points steadily rather than in explosive bursts, a patient approach that pays off most clearly in tightly contested, low-scoring matches against similarly disciplined opposition.
This approach paid off spectacularly during the Season 11 title run, when Haryana Steelers entered the postseason from fifth place and beat higher-ranked opponents through exactly this kind of defensive discipline rather than individual brilliance. Younger raiders like Shivam Anil Patare, who made an immediate impact after debuting for the franchise, suggest the coaching staff is also willing to trust emerging talent within this defense-first structure rather than relying purely on auction-bought experience, a sign of genuine player development happening alongside the team’s tactical identity.
Why Squad Depth Matters More Than It Looks
It is tempting to look at a title-winning roster and assume every player who contributed to that success must be individually well-documented. Haryana Steelers’s Season 11 championship squad tells a different story entirely. Beyond Jaideep, Rahul Sethpal, and Vinay, most of the players who featured in that playoff run, including depth defenders like Manikandan N, Ankit, and Sachin, do not currently have consolidated public career statistics, even though their contributions on the mat were just as necessary to the title as any of the more established names.
That gap matters because a defense-first team relies on rotation and fresh legs across a long league stage just as much as any raiding-heavy roster does. A tired cover defender is far more likely to concede a costly touch point late in a match, which is exactly why depth pieces like Ritik, Hardeep, and Zubair matter even without eye-catching individual numbers attached to their names, since a single lapse in concentration during the closing minutes can undo an otherwise disciplined defensive performance. The same logic extends to the raiding rotation, where Vikas Ramadas Jadhav, Jaya Soorya NS, and Vishal S. Tate give the coaching staff options to manage Vinay’s workload across an eighteen-match campaign spread over multiple host cities.
This is exactly why a title-winning formula built on defensive consistency still needs genuine squad depth behind its most established names. A team that leans too heavily on just two or three defenders risks exactly the kind of early playoff exit that befell Haryana Steelers in Season 12, when their title defense ended in the very first knockout match despite a genuinely strong league campaign, a warning sign that even a well-drilled defensive core cannot fully compensate for thin depth once fatigue sets in.
Full Squad Career Stats Table
Here is every player’s career total where public records exist. Players without a consolidated public career record are marked accordingly rather than assigned a guessed figure.
| Player | Role | Career Matches | Career Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jaideep (Captain) | Defender (left cover) | 100 | ~276 (near-entirely tackle points) |
| Rahul Sethpal | Defender (right cover) | 99 | ~264 (near-entirely tackle points) |
| Vinay | Raider | 76 | ~379 (372 raid, 7 tackle) |
| Manikandan N | Defender | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Ankit | Defender | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Sachin | Defender | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Ritik | Defender | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Hardeep | Defender | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Rahul | Defender | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Zubair | Defender | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Vikas Ramadas Jadhav | Raider | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Shivam Anil Patare | Raider | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Jaya Soorya NS | Raider | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Vishal S. Tate | Raider | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Mayank Saini | Raider | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Ghanshyam Roka Magar (overseas) | Raider | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Shahan Sha Mohammed (overseas) | Raider | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Sahil | All-rounder | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
| Ashish | All-rounder | Not publicly consolidated | Not publicly consolidated |
Notice how this squad’s documented statistical leaders are all defensive specialists and one steady raider rather than a single dominant scoring star. That pattern lines up exactly with how Haryana Steelers actually won their title, through defensive control rather than one player’s individual brilliance on the raiding mat.
Why This Squad Won a Title Without a Marquee Star
Most championship rosters in PKL history have carried at least one player whose individual numbers dwarf everyone else on the team, the kind of raider or defender whose personal brilliance regularly decides matches on their own. Haryana Steelers’s title-winning Season 11 squad looked different. Jaideep, Rahul Sethpal, and Vinay each carry solid, unspectacular career numbers, and the team’s success came from defensive consistency and controlled raiding rather than any single dominant performer capable of winning a match single-handedly.
That approach showed clearly during their Season 11 title run, when the team entered the postseason from fifth place and beat higher-ranked opponents through disciplined tackling and measured raiding rather than explosive individual scoring displays. Their run to the final included wins over teams that had finished well ahead of them in the league table, a genuinely unusual path to a championship that speaks to how much a settled, well-drilled unit can accomplish even without a single standout star carrying the weight of expectation. Understanding exactly how tackle points, raid points, and the shootout system work is covered in our raid points and tackle points guide, which explains the scoring mechanics behind a defense-first approach like this one.
The Season 11 final itself, a 32-23 win over Patna Pirates, capped off a campaign where Haryana Steelers’s defense consistently limited the league’s most historically successful franchise to well below their normal scoring output. That kind of statement result against a three-time champion franchise is exactly the sort of achievement that validates a defense-first roster-building philosophy, even when the individual names involved do not carry the same national recognition as star raiders elsewhere in the league.
What This Roster Means for the Season Ahead
Haryana Steelers enters the new season looking to prove that their Season 11 title was not a one-off, having already suffered a Season 12 setback when they lost in the very first knockout match despite a strong league campaign. That early playoff exit, following directly on from their championship win, suggests the same defense-first formula that delivered a title can also be vulnerable in a single-elimination format where one off night ends a season regardless of how consistent the team has been across the preceding eighteen matches.
Whether Jaideep, Rahul Sethpal, and Vinay can once again anchor a deep playoff run will depend heavily on the less-documented depth pieces around them stepping up when needed. Head coach Manpreet Singh’s own track record offers some reassurance here, having previously guided Gujarat Giants to back-to-back finals in Seasons 5 and 6 before eventually winning Haryana Steelers’s own maiden title in Season 11, a pattern of building toward success gradually rather than expecting instant results from a new roster. Tracking how this roster performs against the rest of the league is easiest through our PKL points table, while our Haryana Steelers team page covers the complete Season 12 recap and schedule outlook heading into the new campaign.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who captains Haryana Steelers?
Jaideep captains Haryana Steelers from the left cover defensive position, with a career total of roughly 276 points across 100 matches spanning five seasons with the franchise.
Who is Haryana Steelers’s leading raider?
Vinay is the squad’s most statistically productive raider, with roughly 379 career points, mostly from raiding, across 76 matches spanning approximately six seasons.
Did Haryana Steelers win a PKL title with this defensive core?
Yes. Haryana Steelers won their first PKL title in Season 11, beating Patna Pirates 32-23 in the final, a championship built primarily on defensive consistency rather than one dominant individual raider.
Who coaches Haryana Steelers?
Manpreet Singh coaches Haryana Steelers, having guided the franchise to a runner-up finish in Season 10 before winning their first title in Season 11.
Why do most Haryana Steelers players lack published career stats?
Detailed career statistics tend to be consolidated online only for established performers with heavy playing time, like Jaideep, Rahul Sethpal, and Vinay. Many squad depth players, particularly younger raiders and defenders, do not yet have a single public career record, even if they have contributed meaningful minutes for the team.
How does Haryana Steelers’s roster compare to other title-winning franchises?
Unlike several other championship rosters built around one dominant individual star, Haryana Steelers’s title-winning core is defined by collective defensive consistency rather than any single standout performer, a genuinely unusual approach among recent PKL champions.
