The sixth season of the Pro Kabaddi League is set to begin on Sunday, 7 October. Tamil Thalaivas will be up against Patna Pirates in the opener.
The league will continue its existing format and will go on for a duration of 13 weeks. In the fifth season of PKL, the league scaled unprecedented heights having expanded from 8 teams to 12 teams and conducting 138 matches over a duration of 13 weeks.
It was viewed by a record 313 million viewers with a watch time of 100 billion minutes, with the final of season five becoming the most viewed non-cricket sporting event on Indian television.
Here’s a look at the ten players to watch in the Pro Kabaddi League.
1. Rahul Chaudhari
Rahul Chaudhari, who has been with the Telugu Titans throughout his Pro Kabaddi League career, has recorded the most number of raid points (666) in the history of the competition. The 25-year-old has scored a total of 710 (raid and tackle) points in 79 Pro Kabaddi League matches.
Chaudhari has a not out percentage of 82.54 and an average raid points/match of 8.43.
2. Pardeep Narwal
Pardeep Narwal, who has played for the Patna Pirates in the last three seasons, is the only one to be named ‘Most Valuable Player’ in two consecutive seasons (season 4 and 5). In the previous season, Narwal was the best raider with 369 points. He was better than the second best raider (Rohit Kumar) by 150 points.
Narwal has scored the most points in a single season (369), most points in a single match (34) and highest points in a single raid (8).
The 21-year-old has scored 625 raid points in 64 matches.
3. Fazel Atrachali
Fazel Atrachali has been the best overseas player in the history of the competition. The Iranian, who was sold to U Mumba for Rs 1 crore, is at the eleventh spot in the highest tackle points list. The defender has scored 230 tackle points in 56 Pro Kabaddi matches.
The 26-year-old is the only foreign player to take part in four Pro Kabaddi League finals. He was the best defender in the fourth season with 52 points. Atrachali helped his team Patna Pirates win the competition that year.
4. Ajay Thakur
Ajay Thakur has recorded the third most raid points in the Pro Kabaddi League with 529 points in 80 matches. The 32-year-old has a not out percentage of 77.3 and an average raid points/match of 6.61.
Thakur, who scored a Super 10 in the 2016 World Cup final to help India beat Iran, will play for the Tamil Thalaivas.
5. Meraj Sheykh
Iran's Meraj Sheykh is the first foreign player to captain a Pro Kabaddi League side. He was named skipper of the Telugu Titans team for the second half of the second season. The 30-year-old was the best all-rounder in the last season with 104 points.
Sheykh, who has played for Dabang Delhi in the last two seasons, has scored 265 all-round points in 63 Pro Kabaddi League matches.
The former Iran captain will be looking to prove a point after being left out of the national team for the Asian Games.
6. Deepak Niwas Hooda
Deepak Niwas Hooda has scored the third most all-round points in the Pro Kabaddi League. He has recorded 577 points in 81 matches. The 24-year-old has the fifth most Super 10s (14) in the competition under his belt.
Hooda has notched 514 raid points in 81 matches with an average raid points/match of 6.34.
7. Abozar Mohajer Mighani
Iran’s Abozar Mohajer Mighani has played in just one Pro Kabaddi League so far. He was the fifth best defender in the season while he played for Gujarat Fortune Giants. In this season, he will be in the Telugu Titans side.
He scored 116 tackle points in 24 PKL matches. Mighani has an average tackles/match of 2.62.
8. Manjeet Chhillar
Manjeet Chhillar, who will play for the Tamil Thalaivas in this season, has scored the most tackle points (243) in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League. He is the joint record holder for the most high 5s in the competition.
When he scored 67 raid points and 40 tackle points for the Bengaluru Bulls in the second season, he was adjudged the ‘Most Valuable Player’.
9. Surender Nada
Surender Nada, who will play for the Haryana Steelers, has been the second best defender in the Pro Kabaddi League. He has scored 218 points in 70 matches. The 31-year-old has scored the most tackle points in the last season with 80 in 21 matches.
Nada holds the record for the most consecutive high 5s in a season. He notched five high 5s in the first five matches of the last season.
10. Sandeep Narwal
Sandeep Narwal, who will play for the Puneri Paltan, has more than 200 raid and tackle points in the Pro Kabaddi League. The 25-year-old is at the tenth spot in the most total points list in the competition with 417 points in 83 matches.
Narwal has recorded 16 super tackles and 14 high 5s in the Pro Kabaddi League.
(With inputs from IANS)
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