The Pro Kabaddi Season 9 auction will take place on August 5 and 6 at the Trident Hotel in Mumbai, with more than 500 players set to go under the hammer.

The PKL Season 9 auction is scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM IST. Watch the auction live!

The teams participating in the Pro Kabaddi Season 9 auction are Bengal Warriors, UP Yoddhas, U Mumba, Tamil Thalaivas, Bengaluru Bulls, Gujarat Giants, Dabang Delhi KC, Telugu Titans, Patna Pirates, Haryana Steelers, Jaipur Pink Panthers and Puneri Paltan.

The 12 teams were allowed to retain six players under the Elite Retained Players category. Franchises can also retain up to four players from New Young Players (NYPs) category under stipulated conditions.

The PKL 2022 auction pool has been expanded to more than 500 kabaddi players, including 24 from the top two teams of the Khelo India University Games 2021, Bangalore.

Pawan Sehrawat and Pardeep Narwal, two of the most prolific raiders in PKL history, will be available for selection at the PKL auction as they were not retained by their respective teams.

It is worth mentioning that Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh is the only overseas player retained by any PKL team ahead of the Season 9 auctions.

All 12 PKL teams will have a purse of INR 4.4 crore heading into the Pro Kabaddi Season 9 auction.

Base price for players at Pro Kabaddi Season 9 auction

Players are divided into four categories, where they are further categorised as all-rounders, raiders and defenders.

Category A - INR 30 Lakh

Category B - INR 20 Lakh

Category C - INR 10 Lakh

Category D - INR 6 Lakh

Where to watch the Pro Kabaddi Season 9 auction live in India?

The live telecast of the Pro Kabaddi Season 9 auction will be available on Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD and Star Sports First TV channels in India.

For regional coverage, kabaddi fans can tune in to Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Telugu, and Star Sports 1 Kannada.

Live streaming of the PKL Season 9 auction can be viewed on the  Disney+ Hotstar app and the website.

Featured photo: Pro Kabaddi

The Pro Kabaddi Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is won by players who perform exceptionally well throughout the season.

Since the inception of Pro Kabaddi in 2014, six players across eight seasons have won the award with raiders predominantly dominating the list.

Of all the kabaddi players on the Pro Kabaddi MVP list, only Pardeep Narwal and Naveen Kumar have managed to win the award twice. While Pardeep won the prestigious award in Season 4 and 5 of PKL, Naveen Kumar won in Season 7 and Season 8 respectively. 

Meanwhile, Asian Gold medalist Manjeet Chhillar is the only all-rounder to have won the MVP award.

Here are the players on the Pro Kabaddi MVP list.

Pro Kabaddi Season 1 MVP: Anup Kumar

The first captain for the U Mumba team, Anup Kumar, was the standout performer in the inaugural season of the Pro Kabaddi with 169 points. His tally of 155 raid points in Season 1 were the most points by any raider for the first four seasons until Pardeep Narwal broke the record in Season 5 (2017).

The 2016 Kabaddi World Cup winner led U Mumbai to the final, although they lost 35-24 to Jaipur Pink Panthers in a riveting clash.

Pro Kabaddi Season 2 MVP: Manjeet Chhillar

Manjeet Chhillar won the Pro Kabaddi MVP award in Season 2 for his all-round performance with the Bengaluru Bulls. The all-rounder - who finished with 107 points (67 raid points, 40 tackle points) - is the only player in Pro Kabaddi history to feature in the top 10 list for both best raiders and defenders in a single edition.

Despite battling health issues during the league stage, Manjeet was the driving force for the Bulls en-route to the PKL final against U Mumba. Back then, his tally of 11 points was the most by any player in the Season 2 PKL final, but the Bengaluru Bulls star ended on the losing side by a twist of fate.

Manjeet Chhillar continues to hold the records for most tackle points (339) and most successful tackles (324) in Pro Kabaddi.

Pro Kabaddi Season 3 MVP: Rohit Kumar

Rohit Kumar is fondly remembered as the first MVP winner of a PKL-winning team. Rohit, known for his ruthless attacking and superb flexibility on the mat, capped a memorable debut season in the Pro Kabaddi as he pioneered Patna Pirates to the title in 2016.

He tallied 102 raid points in 12 matches, averaging 8.5 raid points per match. This was one of the key reasons he was awarded the PKL MVP award.

The raider, now plying his trade with Telugu Titans, has amassed 100 points in every PKL season since his debut in Pro Kabaddi Season 3.

Pro Kabaddi Season 4 MVP: Pardeep Narwal

Season 4 marked the arrival of Pardeep Narwal as a prolific raider. The former Patna Pirates star, who registered 116 raid points with 10 Super Raids in Season 3, upped the ante in Pro Kabaddi Season 4 by tallying 133 points.

The Haryana raider developed his signature move ‘Dubki�?in PKL Season 4, as he racked up five Super 10s and completed three Super Raids in 16 matches to pioneer Patna to their second successive final.

Pro Kabaddi Season 5 MVP: Pardeep Narwal

Pardeep Narwal broke not just one but five records in a historic PKL Season 5 with Patna Pirates. The Haryana-born raider went past Anup Kumar for most raid points in a single campaign whilst playing the 12th match of the season.

Going forward, Pardeep went on to script history by tallying the most total points in a season (369 points), most successful raids (271), most super raids (18) and most super 10s (19).

Pardeep Narwal averaged a mammoth 14.19 raid points per match in PKL Season 5.

�?On his special day, let's take a look back at that famous 8-point raid that Pardeep Narwal scored with so much of ease. #PirateHamla #Pirates #ProKabaddi #HappyBirthdayDubkiKing pic.twitter.com/LTZIe3bEyb

�?Patna Pirates (@PatnaPirates) February 16, 2020

Against the Haryana Steelers in Eliminator 2, Pardeep Narwal completed a historic raid worth eight points, as he managed to get six defenders out and secured two all-out points as well. In all, the �?/span>Dubki King�?registered a record 34-point haul in the match.

Pro Kabaddi Season 6 MVP: Pawan Sehrawat

Of all his performances in PKL Season 6, Pawan Sehrawat will be remembered for spearheading Bengaluru Bulls�?comeback in the final against the Gujarat Giants (formerly known as Gujarat Fortunegiants).

The Bulls were eight points behind with just 18 minutes left in the final, but a spectacular performance in the second half saw Sehrawat turn around the contest in his team’s favour and end the match with 22 points - the most by any kabaddi player in a PKL final.

Pawan Sehrawat earned the MVP award as he finished the campaign as the leading raid-point scorer (271) and registered the most Super Raids (12) in the entire season.

Pro Kabaddi Season 7 MVP: Naveen Kumar

After a splendid debut campaign with Dabang Delhi K.C. in Season 6, Naveen Kumar continued his stellar form in PKL Season 7 with 303 points in 23 matches.

But what was more outstanding is that the young kabaddi player registered 22 Super 10s in the campaign, breaking the previous record set by Pardeep Narwal in Season 5.

A raider with speed, strength, agility and tact, Naveen Kumar averaged a staggering 13.08 raid points per game in Pro Kabaddi Season 7. By the end of the campaign, he became the youngest player to score 300 raid points in a single Pro Kabaddi season.

Pro Kabaddi Season 8 MVP: Naveen Kumar 

Naveen Kumar became only the second player in Pro Kabaddi after Pardeep Narwal to win the MVP award of the season twice. Naveen's 207 raid points across 17 PKL matches in Season 8 played a key role in Dabang Delhi K.C. winning their maiden Pro Kabaddi title.

Naveen Kumar scored 12 super 10s in PKL Season 8 with seven of them coming in succession.  

Author: William Paul

Featured photo: Pro Kabaddi

Pardeep Narwal is Pro Kabaddi’s superstar. The prolific raider is the all-time leading points-scorer of the league, the only player to cross 1,000 raid points in his career, and averages nearly 11 raid points in a match.

Based on Pardeep Narwal’s average, a Super 10 is guaranteed in every match he plays. In fact, Pardeep Narwal is the only player to cross 50 Super 10s and 100 Super Raids.

But despite these mind-boggling numbers, Patna Pirates decided to let go of his star raider ahead of the Pro Kabaddi 2021 auction.

It marks the first time Pardeep Narwal will be bid for during a Pro Kabaddi auction, as Patna Pirates had retained the burly Haryana raider in the previous seasons.

It is believed that Pardeep Narwal’s salary is worth Rs 60 lakhs, far from the seven-member crore club of PKL, making him one of the cost-effective players in the league. So, why was Pardeep let go?

 

Why was Pardeep Narwal released by Patna Pirates?

There are the possible theories:

Pardeep Narwal and Patna Pirates have had a fallout. While there are no indications that the team and player had a disagreement, at least publicly, things may have been different behind the scenes. 

Pardeep Narwal wants to boost his net worth. If anyone is worth making over a crore in Pro Kabaddi, it’s Pardeep Narwal. Having himself in the Pro Kabaddi player auction pool will allow rival teams to bid for him and boost his net worth in the league. Patna Pirates can always buy him back with the Final Bid Match card. Pardeep Narwal’s last-known PKL salary was Rs 60 lakhs.

Patna Pirates wants to change squad strategy. For long, coach Ram Mehar Singh and Patna Pirates have relied on Pardeep Narwal leading the attack of the team and bailing them out often. Patna Pirates may want to change that with an eye on the future and field a well-balanced squad rather than lean heavily on one raider.

Potential injury or fitness issue. Perhaps Patna Pirates knows a little more about Pardeep Narwal than the rest. A long-term injury or fitness issue could be a cause of concern for the three-time PKL champions and the team wants to offload its potential liabilities for Season 8.

Featured photo: Pro Kabaddi

While the success of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) was first noticed only after the tremendous popularity of its inaugural season in 2014, the idea of commercialising the sport’s athletic vibrance through television was first conceived during the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.

Despite kabaddi featuring in the Summer Olympics for the first time in 1936 and later being included in the Asian Games in 1990, it was the rural and mud-friendly sport’s reintroduction of the synthetic mat at the 2002 Malaysia Open that had changed the game forever.

Charu Sharma, a TV sports commentator and the director of Mashal Sports - that ideated Pro Kabaddi League, had first realised Kabaddi’s potential at the 2006 Asian Games.

“Kabaddi is naturally compatible for television. Firstly, it is played indoors, in a controlled environment. The playing field is compact, which means the cameras don’t miss much. It is a robust sport, and the players are athletic specimens. It is gripping action, and TV is a slave to that,�?Charu Sharma had said in an interview to Mint.

Starting with steep competition

Having a good vision wasn’t enough though, as the world history is filled with examples of great ideas getting executed disastrously. Hence, the right time for kabaddi’s arrival was still far away �?eight years to be exact.

Ironically, it was the Indian Premier League that would set the ball rolling after the franchise-based cricket tournament became a massive hit in 2008. The T20 league occupied the prime-time television slots of the Indian masses with sports like badminton, tennis, football, and kabaddi daring to achieve something similar.

Soon, India saw the Premier Badminton League (PBL) and Indian Super League (ISL) starting in 2013, which was followed by the Pro Kabaddi League and International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) in 2014.

With IPL leading the charts as India’s most popular choice, the rest were all fighting for the second spot. And it was quite evident that PKL was starting on a backfoot.

While the ISL saw football superstars like Alessandro del Piero, Zico, Nicolas Anelka and others gracing the league, the IPTL had the likes of Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova and Andre Agassi. Hence, PKL could not compete in terms of popularity quotient.

Urban tweaks to a rural game

However, while the other leagues were relying on their marquee players �?an IPL concept �?to enrich an already popular sport, PKL’s sole weapon was the product.

Having a sport like Kabaddi that already had its roots deep into Indian culture, PKL banked on the wide-spread knowledge of the game to make it more thrilling and unpredictable �?a scope that football, tennis or badminton didn’t have.

The introduction of the 30-second rule (where no raid can exceed 30 seconds), the do-or-die raid (every third empty raid) and the super tackle (an extra point when three or fewer defenders make a successful tackle), all served its prime purpose �?to hold viewers�?attention for 40 minutes.

While people were optimistic about PKL’s chances, none had thought it to be an instant success. As per the PKL media handbook, the first season had recorded a whopping 435 million views.

"Within the first season, at the end of 37 days of season 1, it was already, in a proven way, the No. 2 sport on TV. This does not happen,�?Shubhranshu Singh, Executive VP - Head Marketing of Sports at Star India, had said during PKL 5 launch.

“Across the world, I can't think of another sport like ours, mostly never on television, which arrives, takes on other sports that have been present for decades on primetime television, and within one season, in 30-35 days, becomes the No. 2 sport," he would add.

PKL’s unprecedented rise

If season one had offered something new to the Indian masses, the second edition of the league was the new “cool�? A rural sport like Kabaddi was seeing 60% of PKL’s viewership coming from the metro cities in the season and third seasons.

The year 2015 saw Star Sports announcing 74% stake in the league’s parent company, Mashal Sports, and it was soon renamed as ‘Mashal Sports Pvt.Ltd Star India�?

Once the money started flowing in, there was no stopping PKL. The league had boasted of 51% of a cumulative viewership growth over four seasons, which was the highest for any sports league in India.

Viewers couldn’t get enough of the sport, and after holding two PKL editions in 2016 alone, the league had to expand to 12 teams in 2017. Even IPL and ISL haven’t been able to do that yet.

If Rakesh Kumar was the most expensive player in PKL 1 for 12.8 lakhs, season 5 saw raider Nitin Tomar getting sold for Rs. 93 lakhs while season 6 had Monu Goyat going for Rs. 1.51 crores, and the last season saw Siddharth Desai becoming the most expensive player with 1.45 crores.

The total prize money for PKL season one was Rs. 2 crores which have increased to Rs. 8 crores until last season.

The Pro Kabaddi League has, however, not only improved the lifestyles of the Kabaddi players but also become a talent pool for the national Kabaddi team. Some of the best talents in world Kabaddi now like Pardeep Narwal, Rahul Chaudhari, Pawan Kumar and more have come up through PKL.

Glitz and Glamour

Once things were going visibly north for PKL, the organisers did not want to leave anything to chance. While Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan, the Jaipur franchise owner, was the only celebrity in the first season, the later seasons witnessed high-profile Bollywood stars featuring in PKL someway or the other.

Amitabh Bachchan's Le Panga song was a huge hit amid the Hindi-speaking audience and the league has been lit up with the glitz and glamour of the movie industry. 

PKL has seen Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan already gracing the platform for film promotions. Regional ambassadors like Yash and Rana Daggubati were also roped in.

The seventh and last season of PKL saw 9 per cent growth in viewership numbers as it remained the most-watched non-cricket sports league in the country. After the global pandemic saw PKL pushed to 2021, fans have eagerly waited for the league to return this year.

Feature Image Courtesy: Instagram/ Pro Kabaddi League 

A former MVP and a two-time Best Defender Award winner, Tamil Thalaivas' Manjeet Chhillar is one of the greats of Pro Kabaddi and continues to be a solid player in the league.

Manjeet is the league's leading tackle point-scorer with 339 and is one of only two all-rounders to score over 200 raid points and 300 tackle points alongside U Mumba’s Sandeep Narwal.

The veteran has played with and against the best that PKL has had to offer and is a reliable authority on who the league's best players have been. So, when Manjeet picked his Pro Kabaddi Dream Team, it was bound to be a special unit filled to the brim with talent.

Manjeet picked himself to play as the Left Cover and here are his remaining six picks:

Cover �?Surjeet Singh

With himself slotted in the Left Cover position, Manjeet opted for Surjeet Singh to partner him as the Right Cover in his team.

A stalwart of Indian kabaddi, Surjeet is one of the finest Cover defenders in the Pro Kabaddi league. The Puneri Paltan skipper is the highest-scoring Cover defender in league history and is also the only Cover defender to feature in the top 10 tackle point-scorers in PKL history (Manjeet Chhillar is also a Cover defender that is in the top 10 tackle point-scorers, however, he started and played a large chunk of his career as a Corner defender).

Corners �?Ravinder Pahal and Joginder Narwal

For the two Corner slots, Manjeet picked Dabang Delhi duo Ravinder Pahal and Joginder Narwal.

Right Corner Pahal has been ever-present in the Pro Kabaddi League and is a former Best Defender Award winner, finishing as the league's leading tackle point-scorer in Season 2. The Hawk, as he is fondly known, has scored 326 tackle points in his Pro Kabaddi career, trailing only Manjeet, who leads the league with 339.

A terrific leader, a respected figure and a stellar Left Corner, Joginder Narwal may be in the twilight of his career as a player but still continues to be an extremely reliable defender in the toughest defensive position in kabaddi. Joginder has scored 173 tackle points in his PKL career, which ranks just outside the top 20 in league history.

Raiders �?Vikash Kandola, Pawan Sehrawat and Pardeep Narwal

For the three raiding spots in the team, Manjeet picked Haryana Steelers' Vikash Kandola, Bengaluru Bulls' Pawan Sehrawat and Patna Pirates' Pardeep Narwal.

After two seasons of playing an excellent backup raider, Haryana Steelers promoted Vikash Kandola to lead the team’s raiding unit in Season 7 and the youngster did not disappoint, scoring 190 raid points in 20 matches, which included 11 Super 10s, the fourth-most in the league. Kandola is one of the rising stars in the PKL and it comes as little surprise that Manjeet picked up this wily raider to be the third-choice in his team.

In Sehrawat and Narwal, Manjeet picked two raiders that have scored a combined 1842 raid points, 90 Super 10s, 79 Super Raids and won three best Raider Awards, three MVPs and four PKL titles.

The duo are by far the two best and most accomplished raiders in PKL history and it truly was a no-brainer for Manjeet to pick them in his Dream Team.

Feature image courtesy: ProKabaddi.com

We covered the highest scorers of the first six teams in alphabetical order earlier. Here are the leaders for the remaining six teams.

Patna Pirates �?Pardeep Narwal

Who else but the incomparable Pardeep Narwal leads the way in points scored for the Patna Pirates. The raider is the only player to score over 1000 points for a single team in the Pro Kabaddi league. Pardeep currently has 1160 points in 102 matches for the Patna Pirates. Pardeep has won two MVP awards, two Best Raider awards and three PKL titles with the Pirates.

Puneri Paltan �?Deepak Niwas Hooda

Before joining the Jaipur Pink Panthers in Season 6, Deepak Niwas Hooda spent three seasons with the Puneri Paltan and was the franchise’s marquee star throughout his run with them. Hooda played 61 matches for the Paltan and scored 392 points in 61 matches. The all-rounder is the only player to be leading point-scorer for two different franchises in PKL.

Tamil Thalaivas �?Ajay Thakur

Tamil Thalaivas have been the whipping boys in PKL since their entry into the league in Season 5, but one man who cannot be blamed for their terrible run is skipper Ajay Thakur. The revered raider has scored 484 points in 57 matches for the Thalaivas at an average of 8.49. Rahul Chaudhari, who has spent just one season with the franchise, is the team’s second-highest point scorer with 138. Speaking of Chaudhari..

Telugu Titans �?Rahul Chaudhari

By far the most iconic figure in Telugu Titans�?history, Rahul Chaudhari scored 876 points in 102 matches for the franchise in six seasons. Rahul couldn’t lead the Titans to a PKL title, but his personal stats are remarkable. His tally is the second-most by a player for a single team.

U Mumba �?Anup Kumar

Despite playing just five seasons for the team, the legendary Anup Kumar is still the leading point scorer for U Mumba. Anup scored 546 points in 80 matches for U Mumba and led them to three straight finals from Season 1-3 and winning the title with the team in Season 2. Anup was named the MVP of the maiden PKL campaign.

U.P. Yoddha �?Rishank Devadiga

One of PKL’s finest, Rishank Devadiga is the leading point-scorer for U.P. Yoddha with 351 points in 62 matches for the team. Devadiga was the team’s marquee signing ahead of their debut campaign in Season 5 and has been with the team since.

Feature image courtesy: ProKabaddi.com

Earlier, we looked at the list of the Pro Kabaddi league’s most efficient defenders in Season 7 and it featured some of the sport’s best.

Likewise, below we look at the raiders, who were not only incredibly prolific in Season 7, but also thoroughly efficient on the mat.

Here are the top five most efficient raiders in Pro Kabaddi Season 7:

(NOTE: This list only features raiders with over 100 raid points in Season 7 of the Pro Kabaddi League)

Pawan Sehrawat - Bengaluru Bulls

The league’s leading raid point scorer was also its most efficient.

Breaking the record in front of the Record-Breaker himself - Pawan Sehrawat's 35th raid point in #HARvBLR is bound to go down in the history of the game!

Relive our moment of the day here!

⚔️: #VIVOProKabaddi
⌛️: Every day, 7 PM
: Star Sports and Hotstar#IsseToughKuchNahi pic.twitter.com/5DU45HVCWj

�?ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) October 3, 2019

The Bengaluru Bulls superstar scored 346 raid points in just 461 raid attempts, giving him an incredible strike rate of 75.05. Sehrawat was the only raider or defender in the league with a strike rate of over 70 in Pro Kabaddi Season 7.

Despite raiding so heavily, Sehrawat still had the highest percentage of successful raids, with 56.83 among players with over 100 raid points in Season 7.

Pardeep Narwal �?Patna Pirates

Pro Kabaddi’s G.O.A.T., Pardeep Narwal was the second most efficient raider in Pro Kabaddi Season 7.

For the first time since Season 3, Pardeep failed to win an individual award at the end of the campaign, as Sehrawat beat him to the Best Raider award while Dabang Delhi K.C.’s Naveen Kumar won the league’s Most Valuable Player award.

Pardeep Narwal is our raider of the match, in other news, sky is still blue!

The record-breaker turned #HYDvPAT, helping @PatnaPirates to tie the #VIVOProKabaddi encounter.

All kabaddi action:

�?Everyday, 7 PM

Star Sports & Hotstar#IsseToughKuchNahi pic.twitter.com/9YVHHDp12F

�?ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) September 20, 2019

Still, Pardeep embarked on another historic campaign. The raider became the first man in Pro Kabaddi history to record multiple campaigns with over 300 raid points. His 302 came in 453 raid attempts, giving him a strike rate of 66.66 percent.

It wasn’t the easiest campaign for Pardeep, however, as the raider was tackled an incredible 109 times, trailing only Sehrawat in that category, who was tackled six more times than Pardeep in more raid attempts. The Patna Pirates ace had the lowest percentage of successful raids among the top 5 raid point scorers of Season 7, with only 51.66.

What helped his strike rate was his league-leading 15 Super Tackles, the second-most by a player in a single Pro Kabaddi campaign, behind Pardeep’s own record of 18 in Season 5.

Siddharth Desai �?Telugu Titans

After a rough start to his campaign in Season 7, Telugu Titans�?Siddharth Desai slowly got into his groove and finished the campaign in strong fashion, ending it with 217 raid points.

Rise, Baahubali!
Siddharth Desai showed why @Telugu_Titans shelled out the big bucks for him this season with a show-stealing performance to help his side pick up their first win of the season!

Keep watching #VIVOProKabaddi on Star Sports & Hotstar! #IsseToughKuchNahi pic.twitter.com/iNelfV3Qhp

�?ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) August 12, 2019

Desai took 331 raid attempts to score his 217 raid points, giving him a strike rate of 65.55. Desai also boasted of a raid success rate of 53.47, which ranked third in the league among players with 100 raid points, ahead of the likes of Naveen Kumar and Pardeep Narwal.

The Telugu Titans skipper also had the fourth-most multi-point raids in Season 7 with 40, behind Sehrawat (84), Pardeep (68) and Naveen (50).

Maninder Singh �?Bengal Warriors

Despite missing the playoffs, it’s hard to overlook Maninder Singh’s contribution for the Bengal Warriors in Season 7.

.@BengalWarriors skipper Maninder Singh has a habit of pulling off outrageous raids, and the #Mumboys had no answer to this one!

Watch #VIVOProkabaddi every day at 7 PM, LIVE on Star Sports and Hotstar. #IsseToughKuchNahi pic.twitter.com/tHsYGQJ5xF

�?ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) August 10, 2019

Captain Mani led the team with 205 raid points and it took him just 318 raid attempts to score them, giving him a raid strike rate of 64.46. With a raid success rate of 53.77, Maninder ranked only second behind Sehrawat in that category, and his 57 failed raids were the fewest among players with over 150 raid points in Season 7.

Naveen Kumar �?Dabang Delhi K.C.

League MVP Naveen Kumar finished the campaign with 301 raid points, which took him to a league-high 472 raid attempts, giving him a raid strike rate of 63.77.

A 10th Super 10 for @DabangDelhiKC's #10 Naveen Kumar saw them steal a win from the Panthers in the very end! What a season he’s having!

Keep watching #VIVOProKabaddi action, LIVE on Star Sports and Hotstar. #IsseToughKuchNahi #RivalryWeek pic.twitter.com/b5snv9mMXU

�?ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) September 5, 2019

Naveen’s raid success rate of 53.18 was the fourth-best among players with over 150 raid points. However, his 70 failed raids were the second-fewest among players with over 200 raid points.

Feature image courtesy: ProKabaddi.com

Since his breakthrough campaign with the Patna Pirates in Pro Kabaddi Season 3, raider Pardeep Narwal has been on an unrelenting run of smashing records, delivering jaw-dropping performances, and adding to an already stacked trophy cabinet.

Pardeep is the only player in Pro Kabaddi history to score 1000 raid points and leads the league in Super 10s, Super Raids as well as average raid points per game. The 23-year-old holds almost every raiding record in Pro Kabaddi and also has the two best raids in the league’s history. For his proficiency of the Dubki, the raider earned the moniker of the ‘Dubki King�?and for his unmatched knack of shattering records, Pardeep earned the moniker ‘Record-Breaker�?

Pardeep is responsible for some of the greatest raiding performances in Pro Kabaddi history, so below, we take a look at five of his best through the years:

36 points vs. Bengal Warriors in Season 7

With the team through to the playoffs, Bengal Warriors decided to rotate their starting seven and give opportunities to their reserves ahead of the playoffs. Unfortunately, they chose the wrong day to test their strength, as Pardeep punished the Warriors and matched his career-high of 34 raid points.

#KOLvPAT was all about the Record-Breaker and his journey to yet another #VIVOProKabaddi record!

Relive his mammoth 3�?�?point effort in 30 seconds.

Keep watching more action that'll make you say #IsseToughKuchNahi:
�? Every day, 7PM
: Star Sports & Hotstar pic.twitter.com/CcTXJ5JuFY

�?ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) October 7, 2019

Like his previous 34-point performance, Pardeep scored two Super Raids against Bengal Warriors, and this too included an astonishing six-point raid that sent all but defender in the opposition half on the bench. Pardeep also scored a Super Tackle in the match, his first tackle point since Season 4.

34 points vs. Haryana Steelers in Season 5

After finishing second in the Zone B standings in Season 5, Pardeep and the Pirates had to take on Haryana Steelers in Eliminator 2 of the playoffs.

Kabaddi is a sport that requires extreme speed, agility and split second decision making. No one demonstrates it better than Pardeep Narwal. We’ve broken down his historic 8 point raid to show you what it takes. pic.twitter.com/m0ViNJaa9Y

�?ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) October 1, 2018

After starting the game with four empty raids, Pardeep went berserk. The raider scored at least a point in 23 of his next 28 raids while also scoring two Super raids, which included an outrageous eight-point effort - a Pro Kabaddi record to-date. Pardeep finished the match with 34 points, four more than Haryana Steelers managed as a team, handing them a 30-69 defeat.

27 points vs. Puneri Paltan in Season 6

On a day when Pardeep needed 17 to become the first player to reach 800 raid points in the Pro Kabaddi league, the raider exploded with 27 raid points in a thumping 53-36 victory for the Patna Pirates.  

#ProKabaddi Match 101 Highlights: Skipper Pardeep Narwal’s stunning 27-point raid guided @PatnaPirates to a thumping 53-36 victory over @PuneriPaltan in an Inter-Zonal challenge match of @ProKabaddi League in Vizag on Friday. pic.twitter.com/E2kTgDEhOx

�?Sportstar (@sportstarweb) December 8, 2018

Pardeep was tackled just thrice in the match and put in only three empty raids, in what was one of the most efficient performances of his career. The ‘Dubki King�?also scored a Super Raid.

26 points vs. Tamil Thalaivas in Season 7

Reaching a milestone in style has become a trademark of the ‘Record-Breaker�?over the years. Needing three points to reach the 1000-point mark and a Super 10 to breach the 1000-raid-point barrier, Pardeep turned on the style, reaching both milestones and adding 16 more to finish with 26 raid points against nemesis Rahul Chaudhari and his Tamil Thalaivas in Match 83 of Season 7.

Remember the name: Pardeep 'Record-Breaker' Narwal, first of his name, terror of defences, pride of the Pirates, and the first man on the planet to 1000 #VIVOProKabaddi raid points!

Watch more action every day on Star Sports & Hotstar!#IsseToughKuchNahi pic.twitter.com/ticve2q71e

�?ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) September 10, 2019

In just his fourth raid, Pardeep scored his third point of the night to reach 1000 points, and with four minutes left in the half, the Patna Pirates ace scored a two-point raid that took him to 1000 raid points in Pro Kabaddi. Pardeep tormented the Tamil Thalaivas the rest of the night to finish with 26 - one more than the Thalaivas managed on the night.  

24 points vs. Telugu Titans in Season 3

That wasn’t the only time Rahul Chaudhari was the on the receiving end of a Pardeep Narwal masterclass.

In Season 3, Pardeep announced himself to the world with a 24-point performance against Chaudhari and his Telugu Titans side. In the absence of his raiding partner Rohit Kumar, Pardeep carried the bulk of the responsibility in offence and raided 25 times in the match. Despite his 24 points, it was Chaudhari and the Titans who had the last laugh as they ran out victors by a narrow scoreline of 42-41.

Pardeep, however, won his maiden Pro Kabaddi title later that season, before leading Patna Pirates to a three-peat with victory in Season 4 as well as Season 5.

Feature image courtesy: ProKabaddi.com

Like he had all night, Pardeep Narwal strutted into the Gujarat Fortunegiants�?half with the same swagger as that of an assassin. His team was on the brink of greatness, largely due to him, and he was not about to let the moment pass.

After teasing Right Corner Abozar Mohajermighani for about five seconds, the raider took off to the other side of the mat, got the touch on Sunil Kumar, stood near the midline for close to a second, looked backed at the hapless defence, raised his finger almost to signal, ”And that’s that.�?And it was.

Pardeep set up the All Out that would give Patna Pirates an unsurmountable 17-point lead and a few minutes later, the team were crowned champions of Pro Kabaddi Season 5, their third title on the trot.

Pardeep was then named the league’s Best Raider as well as the Most Valuable Player, becoming the first and, till date, the only player to win both awards as well as the league title. The Dubki King scored 369 points that season, 150 more than next-best Rohit Kumar.

1. You read taht wrong.
2. You're reading tihs wrong as well...

You're NOT reading this wrong - Pardeep Narwal is raiding havoc in #JAIvPAT!

Keep watching the #VIVOProKabaddi action, LIVE on Star Sports and Hotstar. #IsseToughKuchNahi pic.twitter.com/wiP0gK3T3A

�?ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) September 12, 2019

And even then, the Patna Pirates had to go through two eliminators and a qualifier to make it to the final, which does baffle the mind, considering they also had Monu Goyat in the roster, who himself scored 191 raid points that season.

However, that was the writing on the wall for Patna Pirates�?problems that have since only grown larger despite Pardeep’s unmatched genius.

Poor squad selection

Post signing Pardeep in Season 3, Patna Pirates had managed to build a squad around him that was well-balanced in both offence and defence.     

Their three-pronged raiding attack consisting of Pardeep, Rohit Kumar and Manpreet Singh was equipped to dismantle any defence that came in their way and they did just that en route to their maiden title.

In Season 4, captain Dharmaraj Cheralathan and Iranian duo Fazel Atrachali and Hadi Oshtorak formed a feared defensive trio that allowed Pardeep to go full throttle in attack and be unconcerned about being revived. Raiding partner Goyat gave Pardeep the security blanket he needed in Season 5 to go berserk in his search for points and that helped him deliver the greatest individual season in Pro Kabaddi history.

That hasn’t been the case over the past two campaigns.

Patna Pirates' mediocre defence scored just 201 tackle points in Season 6, which ranked ninth in the league, and in attack, bar Pardeep, the raiding unit failed to make any sort of substantial impact, with only Manjeet making any sort of dent in the proceedings.

Even with those grave concerns, Pardeep managed to pile 233 raid points and carried the team to within a victory of a playoff spot, only for them to blow it all against Gujarat Fortunegiants in their final Zone B game and miss the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Pardeep though, picked up his second-straight Best Raider award and there was hope that perhaps this season was nothing more than a blip for the Pirates.

It wasn’t. And the signs were evident right after the auction.

The Pirates' strategy in the auction left everyone bewildered. They opted to sign veteran Left Corner Surender Nada for 77 lakhs, their most expensive purchase in the auction, and that despite having Jaideep who had been the team’s most successful defender in each of the previous two campaigns.

Nada, who fractured his arm at the start of Season 6, had been on the sidelines for months and ended up missing the entirety of Season 7 after aggravating the fracture that he suffered and proving to be money down the drain for the Pirates.

In attack, the Pirates signed veteran raider South Korean Jang Kun Lee, who ranked 20^th and 24^th in the league’s raid point scoring list in Season 5 and 6 respectively and was evidently on the decline. They also purchased Iranian Mohammad Maghsoudlou for a hefty price tag, but he too provided very little in terms of support.

With an average defence and a mediocre raiding unit, Pardeep yet again was left to carry his team to victory on his own, and while the 23-year-old did as much as he could, the team was set up for failure right from the go and finished eighth in the league standings, missing the playoffs for the second year running.

Despite scoring 302 raid points, Pardeep could neither win the Best Raider award, which was clinched by Pawan Sehrawat, nor the MVP, awarded to Dabang Delhi K.C.’s Naveen Kumar, and the onus falls on the Pirates�?management and coaching staff, who have purchased poorly in the auction and let their superstar down for two years running.

While Pardeep may not seem like it on the mat, he too is mortal. And unless the Pirates realise that and give the Dubki King a team worthy of challenging for the title, their barren run is bound to carry on a tad longer.

Feature image courtesy: ProKabaddi.com

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SportsAdda.

Dubki King Pardeep Narwal has become a household name in the kabaddi world in a very short period of time. Arguably the most valuable player in the sport, the Patna Pirates raider is known for his tenacity and flexibility, which he has time and again used to absolute perfection.

Having made his Pro Kabaddi League debut with Bengaluru Bulls in Season 2, the kabaddi player from Haryana actually blossomed when he moved to Patna Pirates in the subsequent campaign, where he scored his first-ever Super 10 in his side’s narrow victory over Puneri Paltan, and there has been no looking back ever since.

The 23-year-old raider, who is a World Cup winner with the Indian kabaddi team, is quite the point scorer and has collected several accolades during his five years in Pro Kabaddi League, which also includes being adjudged the Most Valuable Player in two consecutive seasons - Season 4 and 5. Narwal, in fact, completed Season 5 with a whopping 369 raid points, a massive 150 points clear of the second-placed Rohit Kumar.

During the Pro Kabaddi League 2019 season, Narwal became the first player to reach 1,000 points in the competition despite enduring a rather slow start to the campaign.

Read | PKL players with the most assists since Season 5

Pardeep Narwal has won over 50 Super Raids during his PKL career, but we narrowed it down to three of his best raiding performances for this feature.

Pardeep Narwal’s highest raid points in one match (2017)

Pardeep Narwal completed his hat-trick of titles with Patna Pirates in Season 5, but the campaign is largely remembered for his record-breaking tenure. Having accumulated 369 points in just 26 matches, he set the record for most points in a single PKL season.

The highlight of the season came against Haryana Steelers in Eliminator 2 Playoffs.

Up against six defenders, the Dubki King faked his signature move to get past a chain of two defenders before avoiding the corners with sheer precision. With two players still to beat, he spun his way through the gap to the midline to finish a complete raid.

Kabaddi is a sport that requires extreme speed, agility and split second decision making. No one demonstrates it better than Pardeep Narwal. We’ve broken down his historic 8 point raid to show you what it takes. pic.twitter.com/m0ViNJaa9Y

�?ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) October 1, 2018

Read | PKL Season 7’s top performers in do-or-die raids

Cleaning the entire team in a single raid, Narwal earned his team eight valuable points, which, till date, remains a league record for most points in a single raid. That was, in fact, the match where he collected a whopping 34 raid points.

Pardeep Narwal’s 6-point raid against Bengal Warriors (2019)

Up against Bengal Warriors in Season 7, Narwhal pulled off yet another miraculous raid. After skipping past the ankle hold from the right corner, the raider was put down on the ground by as many as three defenders. To avoid any mishap, the left cover, as well as the left corner, joined the fray, but as Narwal saw a slight opening, he stretched his right leg in split second to gather six points from the raid.

A stunning 5-point raid against Bengal Warriors (2016)

In a do-or-die raid against Bengal Warriors in 2016, Narwal squared off against three defenders. Rushing towards the left corner, he managed to get a touch of one of the two defenders and escaped from the clutches of the other. As the right corner came in to tackle, he faked a dubki and reached the midline to earn five points for his team.

Feature image courtesy: Instagram / @pardeepnarwal.09