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Pro Kabaddi League 2018 action starts off in the first week of October and will continue across three months coming to an end in January with the finale in Mumbai. Twelve franchises will compete for a chance to grab the Pro Kabaddi League championship.
Jaipur Pink Panthers were the champions of the first season of the Pro Kabaddi League and are one of the only three franchises (other being U Mumba and Patna Pirates) to have won the championship. We take a look at the five best raiders who have played for them before.
#5 Pawan Kumar Kadiyan
Pawan Kumar Kadiyan started his Pro Kabaddi League career with the U Mumba franchise after being picked in the inaugural auction at the young age of 20. He did well with his chances as the franchise reached the finals of the first edition of the PKL. He stayed with U Mumba for three more seasons before he was signed by Bengaluru Bulls.
He was used sparingly and only played nine matches scoring 21 points during the entire season. The next auction saw him move to the Jaipur Pink Panthers franchise.
The Pink Panthers' captain Jasvir Singh got injured mid-season last year and that brought the mettle of the raiding unit on Pawan Kumar Kadiyan's shoulders. The young man rose to the occasion and was able to fill the experienced Jasvir Singh's boots.
Kadiyan managed to score 122 raid points in the 21 matches of the PKL Season 5. He had two Super Raids and three Super 10s to his name with a 33.45% successful raid percentage. Pawan Kumar Kadiyan was signed by the Dabang Delhi KC franchise for the upcoming season of the PKL.
#4 Tushar Patil
Tushar Patil had begun his Pro Kabaddi League campaign after making way up the ranks at Maharashtrian franchise Puneri Paltan. He was selected by the franchise from the open trials conducted before the start of the PKL Season 2. Although Patil did not get to play a lot of matches during his tenure with the Puneri Paltan, he was picked up by the Jaipur Pink Panthers during the PKL Season 4 auction.
In his first season with the Panthers, Patil only featured in eight matches scoring a decent fifteen points after being used as a substitute raider during the season. However, the following year saw him playing frequently after the injury to skipper Jasvir Singh, and Patil came into his element. Patil scored a total of 67 raid points in the seventeen matches that he played.
Patil scored three Super Raids during the season and had an 8-point performance as well to his name. He will turn out for the Patna Pirates in the fifth season of the Pro Kabaddi League.
#3 Ajay Kumar
Ajay Kumar was signed by the Jaipur Pink Panthers in his debut season in the Pro Kabaddi League in the fourth edition of the league. He was the second raider for the Pink Panthers alongside the highly experienced Jasvir Singh.
Kumar was the go-to man for the Panthers in crunch situations as he slowly became the do or die raids specialist for them through the season. He was highly clinical in the pressure raids and managed to pull off many crucial raid points for them. During the fifteen matches that he played across the season, Kumar managed to garner a total of 61 raid points to his tally.
He managed a healthy 41.12% successful raid percentage and had two Super 10s to his credit with one Super Raid as well. The best performance by Kumar in the Season 4 of the PKL saw him grab 11 raid points in a single game. He will be a part of the Gujarat Fortunegiants for the fifth season of the Pro Kabaddi League.
#2 Maninder Singh
Maninder Singh was one of the best raiders in the PKL Season 4 as he led the Bengal Warriors franchise to the playoffs stages and grabbed a lot of limelight with his silky smooth raiding skills. However, it was with the Jaipur Pink Panthers franchise that the rugged Maninder found his first taste of success in the Pro Kabaddi League.
Maninder was part of the Jaipur Pink Panthers squad in the first season of the Pro Kabaddi League that became the champions beating U Mumba in the final. Maninder's raiding exploits put him among the top 3 raiders during the first season behind U Mumba's Anup Kumar and Telugu Titans' Rahul Chaudhari.
Maninder scored 137 points in the sixteen matches of the season with a splendid 58.85% successful raid percentage. He managed three Super Raids and five Super 10s. Maninder Singh was retained by the Bengal Warriors franchise for the fifth season of the Pro Kabaddi League.
#1 Jasvir Singh
One of the most decorated players in Indian Kabaddi, Jasvir Singh was the stalwart for the Jaipur Pink Panthers featuring in all the five seasons of the league so far for them. Along with Maninder Singh, he was the key player for their championship triumph in the inaugural edition of the Pro Kabaddi League.
Jasvir Singh is widely considered as one of the most intelligent raiders on the mat in Indian Kabaddi. Through his quick wit on the mat, Jasvir Singh led the Jaipur Pink Panthers raiding unit for the past five seasons. During his tenure, he has scored a massive 366 points (338 raid points and 28 tackle points) for the Panthers with a 5.54 average raid points per match. Jasvir has managed seven Super Raids and seven Super 10s over five seasons.
At this year's PKL auction, Jasvir Singh was signed by the Tamil Thalaivas where he will reunite with former Pink Panther Manjeet Chillar.
