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Twelve weeks of exhilarating action on the mat has culminated into one of the best Pro Kabaddi League seasons ever in the history of the league. While five teams had already made it to the playoffs ahead of the Greater Noida leg, the fight was on between hosts UP Yoddha and Jaipur Pink Panthers for the No. 6 position on the table when the final phase of the league stage commenced.
However, with the comprehensive win over table-toppers Dabang Delhi K.C. on the opening night at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex, UP Yoddha assured themselves of a run at the PKL title.
The hosts then picked up two victories and suffered defeat in one game as they ended their league stage on a high. While Nitesh Kumar's men were impressive against Puneri Paltan and Bengaluru Bulls, a blip in their performance against Telugu Titans denied them a 100% record in their home leg.
The top 2 teams in the points table ie. Dabang Delhi and Bengal Warriors will directly play in the semi-finals while the other four teams will participate in the eliminators to decide the remaining semi-finalists.
On that note, here are the 5 players with most raid points at the end of the Greater Noida leg. These players also finished as the top 5 raiders of the league stage.
#5 Maninder Singh
Having confirmed themselves of a spot in the playoffs, Bengal Warriors chose to rest a few of their marquee players for the games at Greater Noida. The captain and the best raider of the team, Maninder Singh also missed the action in the final stage of the tournament.
Hence, owing to his inability to participate in the final two games, he has dropped to the No. 5 position on this list. The tall Punjab raider picked up 205 points from 20 matches in the league stage at an impressive average of 10.25 raid points per game. Maninder Singh accounted for 10 Super 10s and also did a fine job captaining his squad.
Bengal Warriors need to click in two successive games to land their maiden PKL trophy. If Maninder Singh can continue his good form, the Warriors can fancy their chances.
#4 Siddharth Sirish Desai
Having started this season on a dry note, the costliest buy of this season, Siddharth Desai regained his form and eventually helped Telugu Titans notch up a few victories as the tournament progressed.
Siddharth Desai amassed 220 points this season, which is just 1 short of his tally from the breakthrough campaign he enjoyed with U Mumba last year.
At the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex, Desai performed well as he picked up 28 points from the two games that he played in. While he collected 13 points against Gujarat Fortune Giants, he helped his team beat the hosts with his 18-point effort in the second encounter.
Although Siddharth Desai might not have delivered as per the expectations of his team this season, it needs to be seen if the Titans would retain him for the next edition.
#3 Naveen Kumar
Although Dabang Delhi played two games at Greater Noida, Naveen Kumar participated only in the match against U Mumba. As is the trend now, he picked up a Super 10 in this encounter too.
Kumar's tally now reads 270 points from 21 games and if the youngster can continue his good form in the playoffs, Dabang Delhi have a good chance of winning this season.
The best part about his performance in this edition has been the youngster's consistency in scoring the Super 10s. He has twenty Super 10s to his name this season and with at least one more game left for him in the tournament, he has surely set a difficult record to beat for other raiders in the future.
#2 Pardeep Narwal
Pardeep Narwal went past his own record of 34 points in a single game that he had achieved a few seasons ago against Haryana Steelers. The 'Dubki' King picked up 36 points against Bengal Warriors at Greater Noida and fell short of Pawan Sehrawat's all-time record by 3 points.
Narwal accounted for 304 points this season and picked them up at an average of 13.72 per game. Although this campaign may not have gone well for him from his team's perspective, he yet again proved that he is one of the best players of the tournament.
#1 Pawan Sehrawat
Pawan Sehrawat has finished as the best raider from the league stage of PKL Season 7. Although he could add only 13 points in the Greater Noida leg, his exceptional performances from the start of this season have assured him of the No.1 position on this list.
With 16 Super 10s and a splendid average of 14 raid points per game, Sehrawat has finished the league stage with 322 points from 22 games. This season has been the best for the player in his entire PKL career.
However, with his team low on morale ahead of the playoffs, his primary responsibility would now be to help his team beat UP Yoddha in the first eliminator scheduled to take place on October 14.
