As the saying goes, raiders win you matches. They also grab the most attention for raiding is a solo art wherein a player goes into the opposing half alone to earn points for his team.
Kabaddi fans have seen a lot of brilliant raiders grace the Pro Kabaddi League over the course of its 4 seasons so far. One of the standout aspects of raiding is a super raid. Anup Kumar and Sandeep Narwal had the joint highest super raids in the first season with 8 super raids each. Kashiling Adake stood out in season 2 with a total of 7 super raids.
Pardeep Narwal was the pick of the lot in season 3 with an astonishing 10 super raids. Rahul Chaudhari was at the top of the leader board in the last season with 6 super raids to his name.
Let’s have a look at the top five players with most super raids in PKL history.
#5 Anup Kumar
Super raids – 13
U Mumba’s Anup Kumar is the captain of the Mumbai based team as well as the India men's national kabaddi team. The 33-year-old raider from Haryana was the most valuable player in season 1 of the Pro Kabaddi League. He has played for U Mumba in all the seasons so far, helping them to win the title in season 2, and will turn up for them again in the upcoming season.
He has played 57 matches in the PKL, racking up 377 raid points from a total of 938 raids at an average of 6.61 per game. He was a member of the Indian team that won Asian Games gold medals in 2010 and 2014 as well as the Kabaddi World Cup in 2016.
He is also a Deputy Commissioner of Police and has been conferred the Arjuna Award for his achievements.
#4 Pardeep Narwal
Super raids – 14
Having not played in season 1, Pardeep Narwal was picked up by Bengaluru Bulls for the second season. The 20-year-old raider then made a move to Patna Pirates ahead of the third season and helped them win back to back titles.
Hailing from Haryana, he was the star of season 3 with a mind boggling 10 super raids, the highest in a single season in PKL history. He has played a total of 38 matches and scored 256 raid points at an average of 6.74 per game. The 2016 Kabaddi World Cup winner also has only 1 green card to his name.
#3 Rahul Chaudhari
Super raids – 15
Known as the poster boy of Indian kabaddi, Rahul Chaudhari has played for Telugu Titans in all the seasons so far in the PKL. He is their captain and was understandably retained ahead of season 5.
The 23-year-old raider who hails from Uttar Pradesh was a member of the Indian team that won gold medal in the South Asian Games as well as the Kabaddi World Cup last year. He has played a total of 57 matches, notching up 482 raid points at an average 8.46 per game.
He had 6 super raids to his name last season, the highest by any player. He is the record holder for the highest number of raid points (482) and total points (517) in the history of PKL.
#2 Ajay Thakur
Super raids – 15
31-year-old raider Ajay Thakur will play for Team Tamil Nadu in the upcoming season of the Pro Kabaddi League. Hailing from Himachal Pradesh, he donned the Bengaluru Bulls jersey in the first couple of seasons and Puneri Paltan in the last two seasons.
He has played a total of 58 matches, scoring 316 raid points at an average of 5.45 per game. He has made 6 and 5 super raids in the last 2 seasons.
In the World Cup, he was the number one raider with most raid points for India. He was also the highest overall points scorer of the tournament.
#1 Kashiling Adake
Super raids – 16
24-year-old raider Kashiling Adake will ply his trade for U Mumba in the upcoming season, having played for Dabang Delhi in all the seasons so far. Hailing from Maharashtra, he was adjudged the best raider in season 2.
He has played 52 matches so far and has scored 380 raid points at an average of 7.31 per game. He won the gold medal with the Indian national team in the 2014 Asian Games.
