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Vivo Pro Kabaddi 2019 is expected to be a bigger event than the previous seasons with more money spent by the teams and the expanding reach of the game. The auction held many surprises for fans as Rahul Chaudhari and Ajay Thakur will play for the same team while Siddharth Desai fetched a huge amount of ₹1.45 Crore from the Telugu Titans.
Teams made it clear at the auction, whether they wanted their side to revolve around their raiders or defenders. Though the part of the defenders in the team is increasing, it was still the raiders who hogged the limelight during the auction.
Season 7 of the Pro Kabaddi League is set to commence from July 18 and the teams will want to get their team combinations right.
On that note, let's take a look at which team has the strongest raiders and rank the raiders of the 12 teams.
#12 U Mumba
Raiding Options: Rohit Baliyan, Athul MS, Dong Geon Lee, Arjun Deshwal, Abhishek Singh, Gaurav Kumar, Vinoth Kumar, Sandeep Narwal
U Mumba are the weaklings when it comes to the raiding department this season. They have no known player in their department and lack a driving force in their side. They lack a player who can consistently score 9-10 points in every game and though there a couple of good supporting raiders in their side, none of them seem to be good enough to take on the lead role.
Rohit Baliyan and Athul MS are expected to lead the side's charge while Abhishek Singh will be a good support. Dong Geon Lee and Arjun Deshwal will be good substitute options for the side. Sandeep Narwal, their prized all-rounder who they signed at the auction can raid during pressure situations but all in all, U Mumba don't have such a formidable raiding unit.
#11 Gujarat Fortune Giants
Raiding Options: Sachin Tanwar, Gurvinder Singh, More GB, Abolfazl Maghsoudlou, Abhishek, Lalit Choudhary, Sonu
The Gujarat Fortune Giants have made it clear that their team revolves around their defense and naturally, their raiding unit isn't too flashy but it has consistent raiders who have done a decent job so far. Young Sachin Tanwar will be the side's lead raider and has impressed at a very young age playing for the side. He scored a total of 204 points last season and can score points at an impressive rate.
The other raiders aren't as good and will be used sparingly by the side. More GB, who played for Puneri Paltan last season is a smart raider while Abolfazl Maghsoudlou and Gurvinder Singh are handy raiders as well.
Gujarat don't have any star raider and though they're effective, their side is based on their defense and don't have too much of a raiding powerhouse.
#10 Telugu Titans
Raiding options: Siddharth Desai, Kamal Singh, Ankit Benwal, Amit Kumar, Mula Siva, Suraj Desai, Rajnish, Rakesh Gowda, Armaan
The Telugu Titans decided to break the ties with star raider Rahul Chaudhari and went for another star raider to spearhead their raiding unit this season. They engaged in a fierce duel to sign U Mumba star Siddharth Desai for a whopping ₹1.45 Crore at the auction. The rest of their raiding though have no experience whatsoever and Siddharth may well have to battle it out alone in the raiding department.
Rajnish and Kamal Singh will be the preferred raiding options while the Iranian all-rounders Armaan and Farhan Milaghardhan can chip in with some raiding options.
Overall, the Titans have a very talented raider to spearhead their raiding unit but lack a good supporting raider to back him up.
#9 Haryana Steelers
Raiding Options: Vikash Khandola, Prashanth Kumar Rai, Selvamani K, Naveen, Vinay, Arun Kumar HN, Amirhossein Mohammed Maleki
The Haryana Steelers spent the least amount of money at the auction and mad only one big buy at the auction. Their raiding department is quite able but lack the star presence in their side. Prashanth Kumar Rai was their biggest buy at the auction and combined with Vikash Khandola, both of them can create a good combination. Also, Selvamani K can be a good raider during tight situations.
The Steelers have a couple of good raiders but when compared to the might of other raiding units, they don't stand out that much.
#8 Bengal Warriors
Raiding options: Maninder Singh, Bhuvneshwar Gaur, K. Prapanjan, Ravindra Ramesh Kumawat, Sukesh Hegde, Rakesh Narwal, Mohammad Taghi, Mohammed Nabibakhsh
The Bengal Warriors have a lot of raiding options in their side but apart from Maninder Singh, none really stand out to be consistent or dangerous raiders and that's why they aren't among the top sides in this department. Prapanjan is a very good supporting raider but apart from him and Maninder, the remaining players seem to be just options for raiding rather than real raiders who can make any impact.
Sukesh Hegde was unsatisfactory in his performances for the Tamil Thalaivas and Rakesh Narwal hasn't scored too many points for the side. The 2 Iranians, Mohammed Taghi and Mohammed Nabibakhsh can raid too but once again, they are just options and don't seem like a genuine threat
Overall, Bengal Warriors have a lot of options to play with but apart from 2 or 3 raiders, none of the others seem too intimidating to the opposition.
#7 Jaipur Pink Panthers
Raiding options: Deepak Niwas Hooda, Nitin Rawal, Deepak Narwal, Nilesh Salunkhe, Sushil Gulia, Ajinkya Pawar, Lokesh Kaushik, Guman Singh, Dong Gyu Kim
The Jaipur Pink Panthers are a decent raiding side and have plenty of supporting raiders who can stitch together a good raiding combination. Deepak Niwas Hooda should be the front-line raider for the side and the all-rounder hasn't scored points at the rate at which he's expected to. He isn't on the same level of someone like Pardeep Narwal, Rohit Kumar, Ajay Thakur or Rahul Chaudhari.
Nilesh Salunkhe and Deepak Narwal are expected to be the side raiders and both of them have plenty of experience and flair of their own. Apart from them, they have got a couple of new young players while Ajinkya Pawar can be used as an impact substitute. Dong Gyu Kim, the overseas all-rounder can do some raiding as well.
Overall, Jaipur have a good raiding unit which if it clicks, can cause havoc to the opposition but they need Deepak to step up and become a powerhouse raider, something which he's not.
#6 Puneri Paltan
Raiding options: Nitin Tomar, Manjeet, Pawan Kumar Kadian, Darshan Kadian Amit Kumar, Emad Sedaghat Nia, Sandeep
The Puneri Paltan have yet another middling raiding unit at their disposal and though they look good on paper, their raiding seems to revolve around Nitin Tomar. Nitin was the best player for Pune last season but his poor form towards the end of their campaign is a worrying sign. He's certainly a raiding powerhouse but not to the extent of some of the other big names and the price tag's pressure might have its toll on him.
Apart from Nitin, they ventured into a bidding war to sign Patna Pirates raider Manjeet, who showed signs of promise last season and the lanky raider can be able support to Nitin. Pawan Kumar Kadian and Darshan Kadian are 2 utility raiders who can be brought in as impact substitutes. Iranian Emad Sedaghat and all-rounder Sandeep are also raiding options for the side.
Overall, Pune have a strong raiding unit but Nitin Tomar has to live up to the expectations but if he plays like how Rahul Chaudhari did last season, then Pune are eyeing trouble.
#5 Dabang Delhi KC
Raiding options: Meraj Sheykh, Chandran Ranjit, Neeraj Narwal, Vijay, Aman Kadian, Naveen Kumar, Sumit Kumar
There might be a lot of surprises seeing Dabang Delhi be ranked higher than few other teams but their squad has a lot of quality raiders and though they don't have as many options, the ones who're there are good ones. Meraj Sheykh wasn't at his best last season but his form has seen a rise and he will lead the raiding department for Delhi.
He has 2 very quality raiders in the form of young Naveen Kumar and Chandran Ranjit both of who crossed 150 points last season. Naveen has become a young sensation in the league and the 18-year old amassed 177 points to his name last time around.
They also have the services of former Patna Pirates all-rounder Vijay, who has rescued the side on many occasions and is a utility player and good do-or-die raider. Neeraj Narwal is an unknown entity who fetched a lot of amount and is expected to play a role in the side.
Overall, Delhi have 4-5 able raiders in their unit and though they don't have a numerical advantage over the other teams, they have a well-knit unit of good raiders.
#4 Bengaluru Bulls
Raiding Options: Rohit Kumar, Pawan Kumar Sehrawat, Lal Mohar Yadav, Vinod Kumar, Banty, Sumit Singh, Sanjay Shrestha
The Bengaluru Bulls were crowned the champions of PKL 6 and most of the credit should go to young Pawan Sehrawat, the raider with most points in PKL 6. He was a constant menace to the opposition defense and got many multiple point raids with his tremendous speed and agility. Himself and skipper Rohit Kumar formed a great raiding duo and they will continue to be the lead raiders even in this season.
Both of them are quality raiders and compliment each other very well and if on song, they can demolish any opposition and rake in the raid options. However, Bengaluru seem to be short on other raiding options and apart from these 2, there are no known raiders in the side and in case of an injury, this might impact them.
Overall, Bengaluru have a tremendous raiding duo but if they fail, the side will be going in short-handed because of their lack of good backups.
#3 Patna Pirates
Raiding Options: Pardeep Narwal, Jang Kun Lee, Mohammad Maghsodlou, Ashish, Mohit, Naveen, Purna Singh, Vikas Jaglan
The Patna Pirates was a side which revolved around their raiders last season but apart from Pardeep Narwal, none really stepped up during the crunch games. Patna have beefed up their defense with some good signings at the auction but their main area of strength remains their raiding department because they have the best raider in the league in their ranks.
Pardeep will be the main man for Patna but he will have a great partner in Jang Kun Lee, the Korean raider who was a mainstay for the Bengal Warriors in previous seasons. Apart from these 2, Patna have Mohammed Maghsoudlou and Vikas Jaglan as utility raiders. They also have a couple of youngsters like Naveen, Ashish and Mohit who are unknown entities and can be unleashed as impact substitutes.
Overall, Patna are a strong raiding side and have 2 tremendous primary raiders but lack options to cover up for them.
#2 Tamil Thalaivas
Raiding Options: Ajay Thakur, Rahul Chaudhari, Shabeer Bappu, Victor Onyango Obeiro, Vineet Sharma, Yashwant Bishnoi, V. Ajith Kumar, Anand, Manjeet Chillar
The Tamil Thalaivas have assembled a really strong side for this season and though they have a good defense, their raiding unit is their highlight. Ajay Thakur was the only player who shone in the raiding department and desperately needed support and the Thalaivas went out of their way to sign 'Raid Machine' Rahul Chaudhari for this season. Rahul and Ajay are expected to combine well with each other and if they do so, the Thalaivas will be a really intimidating side to face.
Rahul Chaudhari, though hasn't been the same devastating raider he was and has looked rather jaded and subdued in the last couple of seasons and will hope to regain his golden form this season. Apart from these 2, the Thalaivas have signed veteran Shabber Bapu and also have the services of Kenyan raider Victor Onyango who they retained. They also have a couple of young players along with Manjeet Chillar to raid during desperate times.
Overall, the Tamil Thalaivas have a really strong raiding unit with a brilliant lead pair and adequate backups.
#1 UP Yoddha
Raiding Options: Monu Goyat, Rishank Devadiga, Shrikant Jadhav, Mohsen Maghsoudlou, Narender, Gulveer Singh, Surender Singh, Ankush, Azad Singh, Mohammed Masud Karim
UP Yoddha at the top of the rankings might raise some eyebrows but one look at the raiders they have and you will change your mind. UP Yoddha have 3 tremendous lead raiders in their side and even if one of them fires, they have a strong defense which can easily win them games.
Monu Goyat, Rishank Devadiga and Shrikant Jadhav will play in the same team and though none of them are a one-man show like Pardeep or Ajay, they are quality raiders and if all three of them combine, they can really give the opposition headaches about stopping them. They also have Iranian all-rounder Mohsen Maghsoudlou who's a good raider when under pressure and they also have a couple of young raiders who can fill in if required.
U.P Yoddha have 3 brilliant lead raiders who can steal the show for them and with a lot of good raiding options in the side, they have the best raiders in the entire league, at least on paper.
