Pro Kabaddi 2019: Top 5 raiders to watch out for

The seventh season of the Pro Kabaddi League will commence from the 20th of July at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad as the Telugu Titans will be facing off against U Mumba in the opening fixture of the season.

Pro Kabaddi 2019 will see a double-robin round format with no zonal or interzonal matches in this edition. Twelve franchises will compete against each other in a three-month-long format, with the final scheduled in the month of October.

At the season 7 auctions which took place on the 8th and 9th of April, Siddharth Sirish Desai became the costliest player as the Telugu Titans bagged him for a whopping ₹145 lakh. Rahul Chaudhari, who represented the Telugu Titans for all six seasons was bought by the Tamil Thalaivas for ₹94 lakh.

Monu Goyat went to the UP Yoddha for ₹93 lakh while they also used their FBM card to re-procure the services of ace raider Rishank Devadiga for just ₹61 lakhs, which was a steal deal.

Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibaksh became the costliest foreign player from the PKL 7 auctions after the Bengal Warriors sealed the deal for ₹77.75 lakh. Telugu Titans' management did well to retain the services of their defensive stalwarts from last season Abozar Mighani and Vishal Bhardwaj.

Let us now have a look at the top five raiders to watch out for from Pro Kabaddi 2019.

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#5 Maninder Singh - Bengal Warriors

Maninder Singh plays like a fierce lion on the kabaddi mat

Maninder Singh featured in the inaugural edition of the league as he represented the Jaipur Pink Panthers and played a big part in Jaipur's title win. However, a bout of injuries hit him hard as he missed out on the next three seasons and only returned for the fifth season, when he was signed up by the Bengal Warriors.

One of the quickest raiders on the mat, Maninder has gathered a total of 535 points in 59 matches till date. He was also a part of the Indian team that won the 2017 Asian Kabaddi Championship.

From scoring the most raid points for Jaipur Pink Panthers in PKL 2014 to finishing as the Bengal Warriors’ leading raider in PKL 2017, Maninder has done it all. For PKL 7, with Maninder announced as the captain, all hopes will be pinned on him to lead the Warriors to a title win.

#4 Ajay Thakur - Tamil Thalaivas

Ajay Thakur made a cracking debut in season 1 for the Bengaluru Bulls as he picked up 127 points from his first season and but slightly slacked off in season 2, with 80 points from 13 matches.

A skillful raider, Thakur has scored a total of 753 points in 102 matches. He joined the Puneri Paltan in the third season of PKL and played a good hand for the Paltan in three seasons before he made a shift to the Tamil Thalaivas for PKL 5.

Thakur has represented India at the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup, Kabaddi Masters Dubai, and the 2018 Asian Games. Although the Thalaivas failed to qualify into the playoffs for season 5 and season 6, on an individual note, he picked up 222 points from 22 matches in season 5 and 204 points from season 6 to stamp his authority as one of the best raiders in the league.

With Thakur set to partner Rahul Chaudhari in PKL 7, one can expect the Thalaivas skipper to have a good season yet again.

#3 Siddharth Desai - Telugu Titans

Siddharth Desai will turn out for the Telugu Titans

Siddharth Desai made a power-packed debut last season from U Mumba last season and scored 221 points in just 19 matches to take away the 'best debutant' award from PKL 6. Known for his extreme raiding skills, he has been compared to top-rated players like Rahul Chaudhari and record-breaker Pardeep Narwal.

The fastest raider to 50, 100 and 200 raid points, this lanky superstar has won the hearts of fans and pundits all across the globe. A master of the running hand touch, Desai was absolutely unstoppable as he reached his first five Super 10s in just six games for U Mumba.

For PKL 7, Siddharth Desai will turn out for the Telugu Titans and all eyes will be on the youngster as he will be leading the raiding unit in the upcoming season.

#2 Pawan Sehrawat - Bengaluru Bulls

Pawan Sehrawat will be the 'X-factor' for the Bengaluru Bulls

Pawan Sehrawat was one of the biggest highlights in Bengaluru Bulls' title win in PKL 6 as he bagged the award for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) with 282 points from 24 matches. with 271 points coming through raids.

Pawan made his PKL debut in the third season with the Bengaluru Bulls but did not get too many chances as picked up just 45 points from 13 matches. In season 4, he fared worse with just 11 points from 10 matches that warranted his release from the team.

After a poor showing with the Fortunegiants, Pawan was back with the Bulls, but for PKL 6, he was given a license to kill, with Rohit Kumar in the squad for backup. This gave Pawan a sense of new found confidence as the ace raider stamped his authority with some commmendable performances all through the season.

Having made his Indian team debut in the All-Stars clash, Pawan will come into this competition with confidence and hope to help the Bulls retain the title.

#1 Pardeep Narwal - Patna Pirates

Hailing from Haryana, Pardeep Narwal initially made his debut for the Bengaluru Bulls but did not play too many games. He moved to the Patna Pirates in season 3 and was the top-scorer, with 121 points to his name.

In season 4, Pardeep did slightly better with 131 raid points from 16 matches, but his real best came during season 5, when he took the kabaddi world by storm with some fantastic raiding. From just 26 matches, Pardeep notched up 369 raid points and single-handedly helped the Patna Pirates clinch their third title in a row.

With a total of 865 points to his credit, Pardeep is the highest raid-point scorer in the league and will be looking forward to produce the best for his side in the upcoming PKL. He will be seen donning the captain's armband for the Pirates in the upcoming season and will have the likes of Jang Kun Lee and Vikas Jaglan for company.