Top 10 Raiders of Pro Kabaddi League Season 9

Top 10 Raiders of PKL 9

The PKL-09 has finished its group stage and the playoffs will be starting soon. The teams that have qualified for the last stage are Jaipur Pink Panthers, Puneri Paltan, Bengaluru Bulls, U.P. Yoddhas, Tamil Thalaivas, and Dabang Delhi K.C. We have seen many raiders bail out their team’s from difficult situations this season and today we will talk about the top 10 raiders of Vivo Pro Kabaddi League Season-9 after the group stage matches.

1. Arjun Deshwal (Jaipur Pink Panthers) – Arjun Deshwal has been the pick of the raiders this season as he has performed for his team in almost every match and is a big reason Jaipur is at the top of the points table this season. He has earned 286 raid points till now this season from 22 matches, with an average of 13 raid points per match. He has scored a super-10 in 17 matches out of 22, making sure that his team crosses the line this time around. He has performed very well in do-or-die raids and has just been phenomenal. If Jaipur needs to play the final for the third time and have any chance of winning the trophy, Arjun will be the key factor for them.

Arjun Deshwal kabaddi player

2. Bharat (Bengaluru Bulls) – Filling the shoes of a top raider in a very successful team like the Bengaluru Bulls is never easy, but Bharat this season has shown that true champions can do this task very easily. He showed his glimpses in the previous season when he played the role of supporting raider to Pawan Sehrawat but this time around he has just been exceptional. He has stepped into the shoes of Pawan and led the raiding department with support from experienced players like Vikash Khandola and Neeraj Narwal. He has collected 257 raid points this season in just 21 matches, scoring a super-10 in 15 of them. He has also made 11 super raids this season, the joint-most by any player this season.

3. Naveen Kumar (Dabang Delhi K.C.) – Naveen Kumar, popularly known as The Naveen Express, has again been in top form this season collecting 246 raid points from 22 matches, scoring with an average of 11.18 points per match. He has scored a super-10 in 16 matches till now and if his team needs to defend the title, he needs to score in all the playoff matches which can help his team outscore the opponent. Naveen has been Delhi’s top raider now for almost three seasons and has made his team reach two finals, winning one of them. If he continues his top form, Delhi can rest assured of a place in the PKL Final this time around too.

4. Maninder Singh (Bengal Warriors) – Bengal Warriors failed to qualify for the playoffs this time but they were hopeful of a place until their last league match where they lost to Dabang Delhi. All the hopes though were because of one man, Maninder Singh. He has been a very important player not only for Bengal Warriors but also for the growth of the Pro Kabaddi League over the past 4-5 seasons. Maninder Singh, also known as Mighty Maninder, continuing his top form collected 238 raid points from 21 matches, with the help of 14 super-10s. He has also made the joint-most super raids this season, sharing the spot with Bharat of Bengaluru Bulls.

5. Narender Kandola (Tamil Thalaivas) – Tamil Thalaivas this season hoped that their fortunes would change as they hired the services of Pawan Sehrawat at the auction. But, he, unfortunately, got injured during the first match and was ruled out for the rest of the competition. Then came Narender, a young raider, who grabbed the opportunity with both hands and became the team’s lead raider. He made sure that the team’s dream of reaching the playoffs for the first time is completed this time as he collected a total of 220 raid points from 21 matches, scoring 13 super-10s during the league stage. He has shown this season that young players can do a lot if given proper coaching and groomed properly. If Thalaivas need to stand any chance of winning the trophy, they need Narender to step up once again and finish the season on a high.

6. Pardeep Narwal (U.P. Yoddhas) – The top raider in PKL history has again shown everyone this season that why he is known as The Dubki King and is a champion player. Though, he has not been in touch completely, he still has completed 208 raid points this season from 21 matches and made sure that his team reaches the final stage of the PKL. He has received very good support from Surender Gill this season which has reduced the amount of pressure on him. He has made super raids at his will this season (8) and changed the dynamics of many matches with that one raid. He also became the first-ever player in PKL history to cross the 1500-point mark this season.

7. Parteek Dahiya (Gujarat Giants) – Another young raider who is a part of the top-10 raiders this season is Parteek Dahiya, who collected 178 raid points this season from 19 matches with 11 super-10s. He has been one of the very few positives from the Gujarat Giants campaign in PKL-09. He has been in very good form lately and tried his best to make his team reach the playoffs, but was not able to complete it. We hope to see more of him next year, as he becomes more lethal and more mature with proper training and development.

8. Sachin Tanwar (Patna Pirates) – Sachin Tanwar this season has been in top form playing for the Patna Pirates. He has performed at crucial stages for the team and earned a total of 176 raid points this season playing in 20 matches. He has been playing for Patna Pirates for 2 years now after he was released by Gujarat Giants before the PKL-08 auctions having his breakthrough performances at Gujarat. He is an important player in the Patna setup and will be raring to go next year also.

9. Manjeet Dahiya (Haryana Steelers) – Haryana missed the playoff spot by a small margin of just 3 points this season. Manjeet was the one along with some support from other raiders like Meetu and Rakesh Narwal, who helped his team reach this close to the playoffs. He collected 149 raid points this season from 22 matches. This is not the Manjeet we all know, but since he came back after an injury, this was still a decent season for him. He could’ve made his team qualify for the playoffs if he had received some more support from the defense department.

10. Rohit Gulia (Patna Pirates) – This player is so special that among the list of all top raiders, he is the only all-rounder who is in the top-10 raiders list. He complimented Sachin well this season in the raiding department as far as Patna Pirates is concerned. He earned a total of 148 raid points this season from 19 matches, giving small and important contributions whenever the team needed them.