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The stage is set. Players are ready to cross the line. Yes, Pro Kabaddi League is all set to get underway from the 7th of October in the capital of Tamil Nadu, Chennai. The league will come to an end on the 5th of January. Twelve teams will clash against each other to grab the sparkling trophy.
UP Yoddha is a franchise powered by GMR Group. They made a debut in the fifth edition of Pro Kabaddi League. The team was guided by coach Udaya Kumar and led by Nitin Tomar.
With just ten days left in the league to commence, let us recall some outstanding moments given to us by UP Yoddhas.
#1 Nitin Tomar justified his 'costliest player' title
Nitin Tomar became the costliest player in the history of Pro Kabaddi League as UP Yoddhas bought him for a whopping Rs 93 lakhs during the season 5 auctions.
Being the priciest one, Nitin had a gigantic pressure to perform. He scored a total of 177 points in 20 matches. He was also the highest scorer from the Yoddhas' army.
Nitin started his Pro Kabaddi career in season 3 playing for Bengal Warriors. In fact, Bengal Warriors qualified for the semi-finals due to his massive contribution. Nitin will be seen playing from Puneri Paltan in the forthcoming season.
#2 UP became one of the new teams to qualify for the playoffs in season 5
Even though UP Yoddhas made a debut in season 5, they were one of the two new teams who managed to book up a place for themselves in the semi-finals. We witnessed a good performance by the players of UP's franchise.
The journey for them was not easy. Yoddhas eventually lost the playoffs match by the hands of Patna Pirates but they definitely did a great job in season 5.
Captain Nitin Tomar was the top scorer of the team. In the upcoming season, Rishank Devadiga will handle the captaincy.
#3 Rishank's super 28-pointer against Jaipur Pink Panthers
Rishank's best memory of season 5 will probably be his mind-boggling 28-pointer in a happening match against Jaipur Pink Panthers. Rishank took over the captaincy because Nitin was injured and gave us a match to cherish.
He was in a lethal form throughout the match. UP also won that match from Jaipur with the score 53-32. He beat Pardeep Narwal and Kashiling Adake's record of 24 points.
Rishank scored 28 points in just 27 attempts, which was amazing. Eventually, his record was broken by Rohit Kumar and Pardeep Narwal.
#4 Yoddhas prevent the Pirates to win all the matches in their home leg
What's better than playing a spoilsport for the opponent team? Well, UP did the same thing with Patna's team. Patna was all set to win the final match of their home-leg Ranchi, but UP defeated them. Nitin Tomar (18 points) and Rishank Devadiga (11) combined to score 29 points to lead UP Yoddha to a comfortable win.
Nitin Tomar came with a match-winning super raid in the 35th minute as he scored four points to give UP 43-31 lead. In the end, UP Yoddha outclassed Patna Pirates with the score 46-41.
#5 UP manages to get their hands on crorepati Rishank Devadiga by paying Rs 111 lakhs
Season 6 auctions were the most interesting one in the history of PKL. We saw many players turn into overnight crorepatis. Well, guess what? Rishank Devadiga was one of them.
UP used their FBM card and bought back him for a humungous amount of Rs 111 lakhs. No doubt that Rishank is such a wonderful player.
This six-feet long player has scored a total of 490 points in 80 matches. He was recently declared the captain of UP Yoddhas for the sixth edition of the league.
