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The Pro Kabaddi Season 6 is almost upon us as the first match of the upcoming season will be played in Chennai's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium between defending champions Patna Pirates and hosts Tamil Thalaivas. The match will kickstart a three-month long journey that will see adrenaline-pumping action on the Kabaddi mat take place across twelve cities as the franchises will vie for a shot at the coveted title.
The success of a PKL franchise over the seasons has been largely attributed to the performance of their star raider on the mat. On a kabaddi team, it has become one of the most important positions as the main raider is responsible for scoring the bulk of points for the team in a match.
One of the franchises who will be raring to go for success in this year's Pro Kabaddi League will be the Puneri Paltan. The Paltan had made the playoffs under captain and star man Deepak Niwas Hooda but failed to make it to the final. They lost out the talented Deepak Niwas Hooda to the Jaipur Pink Panthers at this year's auction but have picked up Nitin Tomar for a massive bid of 1.15 Crores.
We take a look at some of the raiders who you didn't know have featured for the Puneri Paltan side in the past seasons.
#5 Tushar Patil
The young man from Kolhapur, Maharashtra began his journey in the Pro Kabaddi League with Puneri Paltan. He played two seasons for the franchise where he managed to score a total of 37 points over 19 matches as he was used as a backup raider.
He moved on to the Jaipur Pink Panthers and after a quiet Season 4, Patil finally grabbed limelight last season as he shone alongside Jaspreet Singh and Pawan Kumar Kadian. Patil scored 67 points from 17 matches and also contributed well in the defence.
#4 Surender Singh
Surender Singh was picked up by the Patna Pirates franchise at this year's auction for a price of 12.25 Lakhs. The raider who plied his trade for the debuting franchise UP Yoddha in season 5 began his Pro Kabaddi League journey with the Puneri Paltan.
Singh was signed by the Puneri Paltan in the second season of the league and was a backup raider for the side back then. In his two seasons with the Puneri Paltan, he only played 14 matches on the mat and scored a decent 53 points to his credit. The following season saw him move cities in Maharashtra to Mumbai as he was signed by U Mumba.
After a lukewarm stint with U Mumba, Singh finally broke out last season at UP Yoddha where he was deployed as the third raider alongside Nitin Tomar and Rishank Devadiga. He managed to notch 70 raid points in eighteen matches with a 35.87% success rate and clocked 2 Super 10s over the season.
#3 Wazir Singh
Wazir Singh has been a prominent name on the Indian kabaddi circuit over the years and is considered one of the most intelligent raiders in the country. In the inaugural auction of the Pro Kabaddi League, Wazir was picked up the Puneri Paltan for a price of 10.60 Lakhs and was handed the responsibility of leading the side.
He proved to be their star man despite the team suffering in the standings as he was the leading points scorer for the Paltan during the first two seasons scoring 111 points and 67 points in season 1 and 2 respectively. The next two seasons saw him sidelined due to injury concerns after he was picked by Dabang Delhi KC for season 3 but he made his return to the league with a bang last season with Haryana Steelers. He scored 120 points throughout the season and was the leading raider for the Steelers as they made the playoffs in their debut season.
#2 Nitin Tomar
Nitin Tomar became the star signing for Puneri Paltan this season as he was signed by the franchise for a massive amount of 1.15 crores. However, Tomar had already played for the franchise back in season 4 which was his second season in the Pro Kabaddi League.
Tomar had scored 34 points in 12 matches for the Paltan and was then picked up by the UP Yoddhas for a record value of 93 Lakhs in the Season 5 Auction propelling him to instant stardom in the Kabaddi fraternity. He was a part of the Indian team that won the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup and the 2017 Asian Championship.
Last season, along with Rishank Devadiga, Tomar lit the league on fire as he notched up a massive total of 177 raid points in 21 matches which included a match that saw him score 18 points. He will most likely be the captain for the Puneri Paltan this season and will hope to lead the side to glory.
#1 Ajay Thakur
Ajay Thakur is one of the most popular faces of Indian Kabaddi as he has been the captain for the national side over the past couple of years. He has been one of the deadliest raiders in the Pro Kabaddi League over the five seasons featuring in the top three standings of raid points with a mammoth total of 529 points.
He started his PKL career at Bengaluru Bulls where he played the first two seasons before moving on to the Puneri Paltan. Thakur played 30 matches for the franchise which saw him score 120 points as he was the star raider for the team.
The last season saw him being picked as the priority pick by the Tamil Thalaivas and he captained them in their debut season impressing everyone with his leadership and raiding on the mat.
