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The Haryana leg ended with the home team - the Haryana Steelers winning two matches, drawing two and losing two. Haryana started the home leg well losing just one of their first four matches but a defeat and a tie in the final two matches of the leg soured their home leg a bit.
Their efforts in their home leg have helped them reach top of Zone A. The Haryana leg saw some youngsters turning in match winning performances The best 7 from the Haryana leg features a young corner combination, 2 of the best covers in business, costliest player of PKL, an experienced raider taking responsibility and a super star raider.
Right Corner: Nitesh Kumar
The young right corner scored a High 5 in each of the two matches he played at Sonepat cementing his reputation as one of the best up and coming corner defenders of PKL. The youngster dominated the raiders of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu with his vice like holds and also impressed with the timings and execution of his tackles.
He has now scored four High 5s, only Surender Nada has scored more in PKL 5. With the league now approaching the decisive phase, the form of Nitesh will be especially crucial in U.P Yoddha staying in the top three and making the playoffs.
Right in: Wazir Singh
?There were many contenders for this spot like Kashiling Adake, Nitin Rawal and Wazir’s teammate Deepak Dahiya but Wazir makes it for scoring the points when his team needed it and also for scoring only the second ever five-point raid in the history of PKL.
Overall Wazir scored 34 total points in six matches including a superb Super 10 against defending champion Patna Pirates and also tackled Patna’s captain Pardeep Narwal in the end, the importance of which is like tackling two players. His 5-point raid against Delhi meanwhile gave Haryana a substantial lead which they relinquish till the end.
Right cover: Surjeet Singh
The Bengal Warriors' captain Surjeet Singh once again led from the front against Telugu Titans scoring yet another High 5. Surjeet incredibly scored all the tackle points that Bengal scored against the Titans including two Super Tackles which helped Bengal make an incredible comeback in the final seven minutes of the encounter.
Surjeet’s exploits mean he is now third in terms of leading tackle points of PKL 5 with 44 points to his name. His displays against the Telugu Titans helped Bengal maintain the lead at the top of Zone B.
Centre: Nitin Tomar
The U.P Yoddha captain continued to shoulder the raiding burden for his side scoring 21 raid points in two matches including a Super 10 against the Tamil Thalaivas. He was the top scorer for U.P with seven raid points against the strong defence of Gujarat helping U.P to tie the match and claim three valuable points.
He then produced another superb performance against the Thalaivas scoring 14 raid points, which was his highest score ever in a PKL match. He gave U.P the lead in the dying minutes by making a fantastic super raid but U.P’s defensive failure in the last minute meant Nitin’s heroic performance ultimately just earned them a solitary point.
Left cover: Jeeva Kumar
Experienced left cover Jeeva Kumar is the 3rd U.P player to make our team but the lack of support from teammates means the Yoddha left Sonepat without a win.
Jeeva endured a mixed night against Tamil Thalaivas but was superb against the Gujarat Fortunegiants scoring a High 5. Jeeva’s well-timed dashes and blocks meant that his team took added valuable points to their tally as they look to reach the playoffs in their very first season.
The veteran has now scored 34 tackle points, the most by a U.P player in defence and among regular covers in PKL only Surjeet has scored more tackle points.
Left in: Pardeep Narwal
The Dubki King’s consistent brilliant performances mean he is always a fixture on this list. The Patna Pirates captain scored 34 raid points in two matches including a monstrous effort against U Mumba scoring 21 raid points, equaling his own record of most raid points in a PKL 5 match by any player this season.
The left raider also scored a Super 10 against home team Haryana Steelers helping them tie the match from a seemingly impossible position. Despite Pardeep’s brilliant performances, Patna, unfortunately, failed to win any of their matches at Sonepat losing one match and drawing the other.
Left Corner: Vishal Bhardwaj
The young left corner after struggling for a brief period returned to form producing two quality displays. He scored 10 tackle points in two matches including seven tackle points against the Haryana Steelers - equaling his highest score in a single match in PKL.
Bhardwaj has now scored 45 tackle points and is now only behind Surender Nada in the leaderboard for defenders.
