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. The teams who are in playoffs have reached there because their defense has been intact this season and hasn’t leaked many extra points. Let us have a look at the top-5 defenders of PKL-09 after the end of the group stage.
1. Mohammadreza Chiyaneh (Patna Pirates) – This Iranian defender has been the top defender in the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League for the second time in a row. Though his team failed to qualify for the playoffs and impress much, he has been in top form and single-handedly run the team. Also known by the nickname Shadlu, this defender has earned the most number of tackle points (84) this season after the group stage in 20 matches. Patna Pirates was able to end the season at a respectable position just because of this man. He did 10 super tackles this season, along with scoring a total of 6 high-5s in 20 matches. He showed everyone that Iran is not very behind India in the sport of Kabaddi.
The Orange sleeve is back where it belongs 🔥
Most Tackle Points 👉🏾 Mohammadreza Chiyaneh 🫶🏼#FantasticPanga #vivoProKabaddi #PATvBEN pic.twitter.com/FNS7jlmN0w
— ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) December 10, 2022
2. Ankush Rathee (Jaipur Pink Panthers) – Jaipur will be playing in the playoffs of PKL after a long time and the reason for this is their collective team performance in all the games. Just as the raiding department was led by Arjun Deshwal, the defense was led by Ankush who had a breakthrough Vivo PKL season 9. He scored a total of 81 points in 22 matches, just 3 behind the top defender, which I think he can cover easily in the playoffs. Ankush has also been involved in 77 successful tackles for his team this season and has scored the most number of high-5s by any defender this season (8). Jaipur will be hoping that he takes this form to the playoffs and make Jaipur lift the PKL trophy once again.
Tackle-Mania 🤩
Check out this highlight reel of #AnkushRathee's 5 tackles in last night's #FantasticPanga! 💥#GGvJPP #PantherSquad #JaiHanuman #TopCats #JaipurPinkPanthers #JPP #Jaipur #vivoProKabaddi pic.twitter.com/HfVto6iM53
— Jaipur Pink Panthers (@JaipurPanthers) December 10, 2022
3. Saurabh Nandal (Bengaluru Bulls) – Bengaluru Bulls this time had retained many experienced defenders such as Mahender Singh and Mayur Kadam, but their young defender, Saurabh Nandal has been the one who has led the defense department of the team and performed exceptionally well. Saurabh was the third-most successful defender last year also, and this year he has continued his exceptional form scoring 63 tackle points in 22 matches with an average of almost 3 tackle points per match. He has led his team to the playoffs with good support from other defenders and team’s raiders like Bharat, Vikash Khandola, and Neeraj Narwal. His form will be very crucial as far as Bengaluru’s chances of winning the trophy are concerned.
ಕೆರಳಿದ ಗೂಳಿ 🔥⚡
Saurabh Nandal – Our Raging Bull 💥#FullChargeMaadi #BengaluruBulls #FantasticPanga pic.twitter.com/eFPi67oPmO
— Bengaluru Bulls (@BengaluruBulls) December 6, 2022
4. Rinku Narwal (U Mumba) – This season has been U Mumba’s worst season in the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League history where they finished in 9th position on the points table. In not a very good season for them, there have been a few positives for their team and management. The most important positive has been the form of Rinku. Rinku has performed for them in almost every match gathering a total of 59 tackle points from 19 matches. He has held together the Mumba defense for the whole tournament. Rinku has also been involved in many super tackles this time, out of which 7 were done by him only. Mumbai would want Rinku to take some rest and then start his preparations again for the next season as he could be a very important player for them in the future.
5. Vishal (Dabang Delhi K.C.) – Dabang Delhi’s defense has been in phenomenal form this season. There were a few big names there this time around Sandeep Dhull, Amit Hooda, Vishal, and Ravi Kumar. Vishal has been the pick of defenders for them this season as he is in the top-5 defenders’ list of PKL-09 after the group stage. He has collected 58 tackle points from 21 matches, with the help of 3 high-5s. He has earned so many points this time, despite being in the left cover position, which is never an easy position to be in on the Kabaddi mat. He is very crucial to Delhi’s chances of moving ahead into the playoffs.
Apart from these, there have been many other defenders this season who were not able to collect many tackle points but have had huge impact performances for their team. Some of these players are Sunil (Jaipur Pink Panthers), Sagar (Tamil Thalaivas), Fazel Atrachali (Puneri Paltan), Parvesh Bhainswal (Telugu Titans), Jaideep (Haryana Steelers), Aman (Bengaluru Bulls), and many others.
