'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The curtains came down on the Hyderabad leg of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 5 with the home team Telugu Titans being humbled by the Patna Pirates in the least encounter at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium. The home leg was a tad bit dismal for the hosts led by the poster boy of kabaddi, Rahul Chaudhari, for the Titans could manage to notch up only a single win from their 6 matches, which was in the inaugural match against the Tamil Thalaivas.
The Zone A team standings have the new entrants Gujarat Fortune Giants perched atop the points tally with 8 points having won one while settling for a tie in the other. In Zone B, the defending champions topped the tally with 10 points to their credit from their two wins, both against the Titans.
The kabaddi action now shifts to the city of Nagpur in Maharashtra at the Mankapur Indoor Stadium but before that let us take a close look at the players who had a successful outing in Hyderabad over the first week of the fifth edition and could combine to form the most threatening playing 7.
#1: Pardeep Narwal [Patna Pirates]
Pardeep Narwal is a talismanic raider and he carried on from just where he had left previous season or rather at the World Cup. He accumulated 15 points in the first match against the Titans and completely ripped the rival defence apart.
In the rematch against the Titans on the last day, he continued in a similar fashion, amassing 12 raid points and powering his team to a second win, against the Titans itself. Thus the young gun is leading the way from the word go to help the defending champions complete a hat-trick of titles.
#2: Surender Nada [Haryana Steelers]
The captain of the new franchise into the kabaddi fold, Surender Nada is proving his worth yet again in the Pro Kabaddi League by making the cut to the leaderboard in terms of tackle points.
The left corner defender has a menacing presence on the mat and is a threat to the approaching raiders with his hefty ankle holds which he uses to key effect to pin down the raiders. With 12 points from two matches, one in a losing cause and the other in a tie against the Gujarat Fortune Giants, Surender Nada will be eager to bag a win in the next match.
Monu Goyat earlier plied his trade for the Bengal Warriors.
#3: Monu Goyat [Patna Pirates]
Patna Pirates do not solely rely on the exploits of Pardeep Narwal to take them across to the finish line, there is another young man entrusted with attacking responsibilities whose job is also to keep the scoreboard ticking.
And well, in the first two matches he has performed exceedingly good on the mat to do so, amassing 16 raid points off 2 matches, thus helping the Patna team surge ahead against their rivals, wherein they were rendered out of reach. The key to Monu's success is his ability to fetch the key points when on a do-or-die raid!
#4: Anup Kumar [U Mumba]
U Mumba may not have had the best of starts to the new season but the sole light consistently shining brightly for the franchise, has been the skipper Anup Kumar. He has 14 points to his credit and these are not just raiding points but also tackle points, given his increased role as a defender in this edition!
The Captain Cool is leading a side with many experienced campaigners who haven't been able to come into their own yet, and he looks to make up for the same by his own exploits on the mat.
#5: Rohit Kumar [Bengaluru Bulls]
The Bulls spent a fortune on Rohit Kumar at the player auctions in May, Rs 88 lakhs to be precise, to procure his services for the three-month long season. The owners and think tank would now be relaxed, for Rohit proved his worth in the very first match wherein he went rampant on the kabaddi mat with his touches and dives amassing 12 points from a single match in the process.
#6: Fazel Atrachali [Gujarat Fortune Giants]
The Iranian import has a menacing presence on the mat and he was quite good in the first two matches for the Gujarat Fortune Giants leading the defensive charge for the team.
Fazel finished as the Best Defender last season and will be looking to reprise the same sort of performance this time around as well with his new team.
#7: Mahender Singh [Bengaluru Bulls]
In a galaxy of star players, there are quite a few young guns who are making their way inroads into the kabaddi fold, and one of them is Mahender Singh. In the capacity of a defender, he has been consistent for the Bulls alongside Ravinder Pahal and Ashish Kumar.Given the plethora of skills that he possesses, Mahender will surely build up on his tally 8 tackle points in the upcoming matches.
