Pro Kabaddi League Season 5: Combined 7 team of the tournament

The Pro Kabaddi League season 5 came to a close with much fanfare, as the Patna Pirates made it a hattrick of titles, after defeating Gujarat Fortunegiants in the final.

With new teams being added, and certain new rules being implemented, the 2017 season of the Pro Kabaddi League broke all record books, as the likes of Pardeep Narwal, Rohit Kumar, and Rishank Devadiga shot to fame. Here, we take a look at 7 of the best kabaddi players from the recently ended season.

Pardeep Narwal (Captain) – 369 points in 26 matches

For all practical purposes, this season could well be called the Pardeep Kabaddi League. Pardeep scored a staggering 369 points in just 26 matches with 19 Super 10s. His raid-points tally was 150 more than anyone else. Be it eight-point raids, back hops or between-the-legs escapes, the dubki king let his raiding do all the talking and led by the sheer weight of example. He almost scored 100 points in just four playoff matches, in the end falling just five points short of a century.

Ajay Thakur – 222 points in 22 matches

Despite the Tamil Thalaivas’ last-place finish in their Zone, Thakur was consistency personified and took them to wins single-handedly on more than one occasion. Like always, he used the running hand touch to cause a lot of damage. He delivered a couple of last-minute wins for his team and also led a young and inexperienced team with composure.

Maninder Singh – 192 points in 21 matches

Maninder was the third-highest scorer in the opening season of the PKL but missed the next three seasons. When the Bengal Warriors picked him at the auction, it was a big gamble, to put it mildly. However, Maninder was their biggest match-winner and helped the team to finish top of Zone B. His raw power and tactical acumen proved too much for plenty of defenders and he was particularly effective in getting bonuses at key moments.

Abozar Mighani (Right corner) – 66 points in 24 matches

The 28-year-old Iranian proved to be an inspired pick from the Gujarat Fortunegiants as he led their defence all the way to the final in his debut season. Mighani impressed at the World Cup last year, where Iran finished runners-up, and he continued in the same vein in this tournament. He was also one of the very few defenders to subdue Pardeep but came out second best against him in the match that mattered the most – the final.

Sunil Kumar (Right cover) – 58 points in 24 matches

Sunil made his debut in season four, where he played just one match, but was one of the finds of the season this year. He struck up a particularly lethal combination with Parvesh Bhainswal as his ankle holds and thigh holds complemented Bhainswal’s running blocks well. Raiders found him particularly hard to dismiss and he had a very high rate of successful tackles.

Girish Maruti Ernak (Left cover) – 69 points in 21 matches

Though Ernak mostly played as left corner, his versatility meant that he could also play at left cover when the young Rinku Narwal was deployed as left corner. Ernak has been a part of the PKL since its inception and has improved every year. He mostly relies on his power and timing to push raiders out of the playing arena and struck an incisive partnership with the evergreen Sandeep Narwal in the Pune defence.

Jaideep (Left corner) – 71 points in 26 matches

In a Patna defence that was often criticized for giving away cheap points, Jaideep was a beacon of hope as he was fourth on the list of players with most tackle points. His strong ankle holds were well supported by the vastly experienced Vishal Mane’s running blocks. Jaideep showed tremendous improvement over the course of the season, eventually scoring 17 points in the playoffs -- the most for any defender.