Pro Kabaddi League Raiders: The top 10 raiders to watch out for in PKL 2019 based on their reputation and myriad displays last year
Ever since the advent of the Pro Kabaddi League, the main focus has been on the attacking facet. It’s the key component of a side scouring to a win on the day, seeing the last two editions of the marquee handing out the biggest paydays to the raiders.
And 2018 was a breakthrough year for fresh raiders in the land of the Pro Kabaddi League with players being brought up from the grassroots level to imbed a culture of excellence in the league. The emergence of Siddharth Desai along with ever revered reliability and flawlessness of Pawan Kumar Sehrawat and Pardeep Narwal indulged us in worldclass attacking displays to light up the field.
From successful raids, all outs, super raids and super 10s, PKL 2018 saw some of the most stalwart raiding displays to add to the competitiveness and scrumptious nature of the league. It lead to the 2019 auctions seeing Siddharth Desai emerge as the most expensive player with Telugu Titans snapping up his services for Rs.1.45 crore, a stellar amount handed out after his showings in 2018.
While Desai is among one of the leading and most anticipated raiders in 2019, the plethora of star performers in this facet have no dearth of options. Ahead of the upcoming seventh season of the exhibition league, we take a look at the top 10 raiders in 2019 based on their spectacular showings in PKL 6 and the wordclass abilities imbued in them.
Top Raiders in Pro Kabaddi 2018
Siddharth Desai
Performance In 2018: U Mumba
Raid Points: 218
Super 10s: 12
Super Raids: 10
Despite being injured for a good amount of the second half of the season, Siddharth Desai’s 218 points saw him end up in third place in the highest number of raid points at the end of the league. He became the fastest to 100 and 200 points, emerging as the find of the season after his agility saw defenders failing to get a hold onto him.
Pardeep Narwal
Performance In 2018: Patna Pirates
Raid Points: 233
Super 10s: 15
Super Raids: 6
One of the mainstays of his side and overall right at the pinnacle of raiders in the league, Patna Pirates captain Pardeep Narwal enjoyed yet another fruitful edition in the league in 2018. Ending in second place with a colossal 233 points to his name, his astonishing 15 super 10s in the season were a testament to why he deserved to become the first player to 800 raid points in PKL.
Pawan Kumar Sehrawat
Performance In 2018: Bengaluru Bulls
Raid Points: 271
Super 10s: 13
Super Raids: 12
Top of the standings for raid points, Pawan Kumar Sherawat’s 271 raid points were a reason for the Bulls winning their first ever title of Pro Kabaddi League. Defeating Gujarat Fortunegiants 38-33 in the summit clash, Pawan was at it once again as he came up with a good performance to also see himself top the list of the most number of super raids at 12.
Monu Goyat
Performance In 2018: Haryana Steelers
Raid Points: 160
Super 10s: 10
Super Raids: 3
Coming into the 2018 edition of the exhibition tournament as the most expensive buy till date in Pro Kabaddi League, although Monu Goyat’s season was far from ideal, he still managed to amass a good number of points for himself. He failed to cross the symbolic milestone of 200 points but with 160 he continued to be an integral part of his side and will be looking to make his way back to the echelon of raiders in 2019.
Maninder Singh
Performance In 2018: Bengal Warriors
Raid Points: 206
Super 10s: 9
Super Raids: 6
With 206 points in 22 matches, Maninder Singh made up over 47% of his side’s raid points, the second highest single contribution to a side by a raider. His average of 9.8 points per match included with the 9 super 10s and 6 super raids saw him put in another good display in the tournament.
Ajay Thakur
Performance In 2018: Tamil Thalaivas
Raid Points: 203
Super 10s: 7
Super Raids: 3
At top of the ranks for the most individual contributions to a side’s attacking cause, Tamil Thalaivas’ captain, Ajay Thakur’s impressive display deserves all the more accolades for waging a lone battle upfront. Despite getting no support from his compatriots, Ajay registered 203 points with 7 super 10s and 3 super raids to find himself amongst the top 10 raiders in PKL 2018.
Rohit Kumar
Performance In 2018: Bengaluru Bulls
Raid Points: 162
Super 10s: 5
Super Raids: 5
A key component of Bengaluru Bulls winning the 2018 edition of PKL was down to their impeccable two man raiding partnership of Pawan Kumar Sehrawat and Rohit Kumar. The two saw their side rummage through a mammoth 431 successful raids with Rohit’s 162 raid points seeing him find a place right in number ten for the most number of raiding points.
Vikash Khandola
Performance In 2018: Haryana Steelers
Raid Points: 172
Super 10s: 6
Super Raids: 5
With Monu Goyat failing to live upto the price tag accorded to him, Vikas Khandola grabbed the opportunities that came across his way with significant displays to become a part of the Steelers playing 7. What turned heads in particular were the 5 super raids he registered in his kitty, stamping his authority on 5 different occasions with three or more raid points stemming more multiple touches and bonus points.
Sachin
Performance In 2018: Gujarat Fortunegiants
Raid Points: 180
Super 10s: 7
Super Raids: 1
As the season kept traversing past and Gujarat Fortunegiants kept making massive strides up the ranks, the need for a star raider started increasing in stature for the side. And Sachin was more than up to the task, delivering an outright stalwart display as he amassed a rich bagful of 180 raid points amongst the 392 his side managed to score to see them top Zone A and take them to the summit clash for a second season running.
Naveen Kumar
Performance In 2018: Dabang Delhi
Raid Points: 172
Super 10s: 8
Super Raids: 3
Enjoying one of their best seasons in the dramatic land of Pro Kabaddi League, Dabang Delhi’s compelling ascendancy in the league was down to their raiding department which saw them register a gigantic 401 raiding points. Making it all the way to the semi-finals, Naveen Kumar and Ranjit played vital roles for the side under the most astute of tutelages to take the side all the way to the top 4.
Naveen emerged as his side’s top scorer with the 172 raiding points which included the 8 super 10s and 3 super raids.
