As we enter the third week of the Pro Kabaddi League, we have a look at the Top Ten Best Raiders in PKL Season VI
Rishank Devadiga
PKL Team – UP Yoddha
Raid Points – 29
Matches Played – 4
Rishank Devadiga is UP Yoddha ’s star raider at the ongoing PKL season. He is an expert when it comes to Do-or-Die raids. His stock rose quickly in the recent PKL seasons. He notched up 28 raid points in one of his most memorable performances against Jaipur Panthers when his team beat the Rajasthan team by 53-32. He started off with U Mumba, where he amassed 283 points until he shifted bases to U.P. Incidentally, he was born in the Santa Cruz area of Mumbai. Thus, he finds his way into our top ten kabaddi players to look for in this PKL season.
Athul MS
PKL Team – Tamil Thalaiva
Raid Points – 30
Matches – 5
Athul MS is a rising kabaddi raider and has impressed highly this season. He has grown in this season for Tamil Thalaiva side and has scored 30 points. Although he has to hit last season’s highs, he still has been a steady performer for the south Indian side. If he has to improve his performances, he will have to step aside from the shadows of Ajay Thakur.
Shrikant Jadhav
PKL Team – UP Yoddha
Raid Points – 36
Matches – 4
Shrikant Jadhav has been the best raider for the UP Yoddhas this Pro Kabaddi League season, with the player scalping 36 raid points in 4 matches. Unfortunately, his heroics were failed by the teams poor defending, resulting in crunching defeats against Patna Pirates and Telugu Titans. He finds his place at # 8.
Pawan Kumar Sehrawat
PKL Team – Bengaluru Bull
Raid Points – 34
Matches – 2
At least for the time being, Pawan has shown he can become one of the best raiders for the in-form team Bengaluru Bulls. He has already scored 34 points in just 2 matches, helping his team to record two wins in two matches in the ongoing PKL season. In his first match, against Tamil Thalaiva, he scored 20 points from raids, whereas in his last match he scored another 14 points. He thus finds his way at the 7th spot of our ranking.
Monu Goyat
PKL Team – Haryana Steelers
Raid Points – 43
Matched – 6
Monu Goyat grabbed headlines after he was bought by Haryana Steelers for an astronomical price tag of Rs. 1.51 crores. He was bought for the price for a reason – to lead Haryana’s fragile attack. And he has started to improve his performances, with a 15 point raid against U Mumba. Although he will have to deepen his partnership with fellow raider Vikas Khandola. He features at #6 on our list.
Vikas Kandola
PKL Team – Haryana Steelers
Raid Points – 44
Matches – 7
Vikas Kandola, like Monu, has improved over matches and that is reflected in the team’s performances in recent times. Although starting off as a supporting raider to Monu, Vikas has now scored more points for his team. Going by his performances, he sure is set to form a core part of Haryana Steelers strategy to win the title.
Nitin Tomar
PKL Team – Puneri Paltan
Raid Points – 65
Matches – 6
Nitin Tomar was the 3rd joint expensive raider at the 2018 Pro Kabaddi League auctions. Puneri Paltan has been one of the most consistent sides in PKL, qualifying for the playoffs for the last three seasons. One thing that they probably lacked was an X-factor, which easily justifies why they broke the bank to sign Tomar. Tomar, on his part, has returned the trust shown in him by his new side by scalping 65 points in 6 matches to propel Pune to the top of group B. He will have the most important role to play if Puneri Paltans is to get past the playoffs this time around.
Siddharth Desai
PKL Team – U Mumba
Raid Points – 51
Matches – 4
Siddharth Desai – just note this name. A newcomer to the league, he has already become the fastest player in the history of PKL to clinch 50 raid points. He has achieved this incredible feat in just 4 matches, leaving his team, U Mumba in the second position of Group A, with two matches in hand. U Mumba has also become a high scoring team, scalping 53 and 42 points in their last matches. In the last match, he scored a total of 15 points. The fact that this new star and Anup Kumar play for the same side make U Mumba the fiercest raiding teams around. In fact, they have already had a PD of 44, a stark contrast to the next team in the table, Haryana Steelers, who have a dismal PD of -60. They certainly do look the best team of the lot and an early title favorite. He thus comes at #3 on our list.
Pardeep Narwal
PKL Team – Patna Pirates
Raid Points – 46
Matches – 4
Well, many consider him the best raider currently playing in the Pro Kabaddi League, but he has not achieved the incredible form he was in last year when he scored a record 369 raid points at an incredible average of 14.19. Nevertheless, he still averages at a healthy 11.5 and could easily excel on that number in the coming matches. He features at No. 2.
Ajay Thakur
PKL Team – Tamil Thalaiva
Raid Points – 68
Matches – 6
Ajay Thakur the patriarch of India’s raiding department seems to get better with age. The timeless raider, who has over 14 years of experience of professional kabaddi, has eclipsed young stars like Pardeep Narwal and Siddharth Desai. His achievements are even further highlighted by the fact that the team he plays for, Tamil Thalaiva, is languishing in the last place of the PKL points table. He has scored 68 points from 6 matches, at an average of 11.2 points per match. He, therefore, finishes at the top of our list of 10 best raiders at the moment in the Pro Kabaddi league Season VI.
