The contact sport of kabaddi has become all the rage ever since its professional league, VIVO Pro Kabbadi League (PKL), was launched in 2014.
Considering kabaddi is said to be the fastest growing sport in India and it’s also getting popular all over world, we as thought why not take some snap of an eye look on top 10 players who have touched this sprayed soil because.
1. Pardeep Narwal (UP Yoddah)
Pardeep Narwal
If you are going to leave a memory of yourself on the sport called kabaddi, then what better than being described as the “Dubki King”.
This player is the best raider of team UP Yoddah and he is considered as one of the greatest raiders.
The guy is literally a renaissance man. A few of them are highest point scorer in the history, most successful raids bin PKL history, The person to score a massive 8 points from one raid against Tamil Thalaivas stands as another record. He was awarded MVP in Season 3 and became only player to win back-to-back awards.
Narwal became the first player to score 1,000 points as well.
Apart from PKL, Narwal had won a gold medal at the 2019 South Asian Games with the national team of India. He has been a winner of three consecutive PKL titles with Patna Pirates too.
When it comes to his best performance, Narwal pointed towards a match against Haryana Steelers where he scored eight points in one raid and went on rampage.
2. Anup Kumar (Retired)
Anup Kumar
#3 God of Kabaddi
Kumar’s tale from the tiny city of Punjab, where he started playing frisbee as a little boy to just get away his day.
Now, he is regarded as one of the most successful raiders in history. He served five years with U Mumba before moving to the Jaipur Pink Panthers.
Leading the Indian national team and winning successive gold medals at Asian Games (2010, 2014) are perhaps Kumar’s crowning glory.
Kumar, who recently only received one MVP in his career but remains a legend of the sport as being among its earliest superstars and literally invented probably half of all leg spin variations known to man that were bowlable before he came around.
3. When we divert our attention towards the most underrated team in yesterday’s match, Rahul Chaudhari scored 9 tackles points as a raider.
Also Read: 5 Best Defenders of PKL Season 8
3. Rahul Chaudhari
It is very rare for a defender to turn into raider in VIVO pro kabaddi league but iptayaas takes zero effort for Rahul Chaudhari, one of the lethal & dangerous raiders of KABADDI.
The Indian national side was liked to call this member a showman because of his flair raids and lifestyle. His famous running hand touch on the mat has made him one of kabaddi’s biggest stars in PKL.
A case in point, Chaudhari is the first player after Rakesh Kumar and Anup Kumar to join 1,000 raid points club but he has a lot of experience under his belt as fans have seen him partake every PKL season till now.
At the fag end of what has been a glorious Pro Kabaddi career, Chaudhari continues to be an impact player for Jaipur Pink Panthers having also much recently spearheaded Uttar Pradesh’s National Games triumph.
4. Deepak Niwas Hooda (Bengal Warriors) – Rs 1.45 crore
Deepak Niwas Hooda
Story behind Hooda is a sad one
He was born in a farming family at Chamaria village located on Rohtak district of Haryana after the death of his mother he left only four years old and later in 2013, At that time even he lost his father.
But kabaddi has also been Hooda’s way out of life, earning the reputation as one efficient all-rounder in the sport.
Hooda has some impressive numbers also, with over 1,100 total points that include at least 250 tackles and more than a couple of thousand raids during his PKL career.
In addition to that, Hooda has the distinction of leading India where he was handed over with captaincy duties during late 2019.
5. Naveen Kumar – Dabang Delhi K.
Naveen Kumar
Naveen Kumar was the first ever player born in this century to feature in the PKL but has now been labelled an emerging superstar.
He’s since gone on to be regarded as one of the all-time greats, only the second-ever player to win MVP honours in consecutive years.
What Kumar does the best is, he shows up when his team needs him and yet again that revelatory moment came in PKL Season 8 final
It was a must-win game for Dabang Delhi K.C. in their season opener and Kumar won them the match by scoring an outstanding super 10 with Patna Pirates just one point short of Draughtsmen score line.
Not only was he part of India’s victory in kabaddi at the 2019 South Asian games Angel, many feel that as his career grows it might even outdo Kabaddi milestone Pardeep Narwal.
Also Read: Boxing’s Top 10: Who Rules the Ring Now?
6. Pawan Sehrawat (Tamil Thalaivas)
Pawan Sehrawat
Pawan Sehrawat had made the giant leap during his entire 282 NFL season points in style, with an incredible amount of time to score each point, and scored an amazing 22 when he led Bull´s way to final victory against Gujarat Giants at Sol Toll last September-6th week-NLS. Then came his glorious arrival after being compared among top hundred twenty which would rank anywhere out differently considering sheer importance chart [ men who settled themselves solidly into position three exercises followed closely behind Pulley Guns Simmons.
MVP for that season: Sehrawat He went on to set a PKL record of 39 raid points in the following year.
Those eye-catching performances haven’t gone unnoticed – Sehrawat was traded by the Bulls to Tamil Thalaivas last month for a league-record ₹2.26 crore, which is equal to around $280,000.
Sehrawat, though hardly featured in the 2022 season after being sidelined with a knee injury just ten minutes into year’s opener.
But this is the Sehrawat we are all waiting to see when he comes back fully fit.
7. Maninder Singh, Bengal Warriors
Maninder Singh
Arguably the best player on this list, Bengal Warriors raider and captain Maninder Singh is second in points scored (1,126) all-time.
Singh had started his career with Jaipur Pink Panthers in inaugural season.
He ran away with the league, 130 points later. But he was ruled out for the next three seasons with a serious back injury and got traded to Bengal Warlords in 2017 which marked his last appearance.
He rebounded from that injury nicely, recording 190 points in his second season. In the subsequent year he was again fastest to score 400 and then earliest fasted for someone record of clinching than 500 raid elements.
Singh led the Warriors to their maiden title in 2019, however an injury saw him miss out on playing at finals time.
No doubt he is a veteran in the league yet, Holding his captaincy Bengal Warriors Naveen Narwal shows no signs of retiring anytime soon at least from Kabaddi. Singh scored a career high 20 raid points against Gujarat Giants on November 5, in fact.
8. Fazel Atrachali
The List has just one name from other parts of the world, it’s Fazel “Sultan” Atrachali who is a non-Indian player.
Hailing from Iran, Atrachali showed up in the PKL and made it his own as he went on to become the best defender ever seen in this sport.
He is not only the highest successful tackler of all time (379) but also the sole 400 tackle points scorer in history.
In two seasons Atrachali had also been awarded the Best Defender Title, with his 82 tackle points in season seven best until only this year.
He scored 45 tackle points in Season 4 which eventually profits the Patna Pirates title win.
The VIVO Pro Kabaddi league is something that Bares of any mental constraint when it comes to breaking new grounds in the league, but Atrachali seems unphased even by international competitions as he becomes one of very few players from such countries.
He led his country to a 27-18 semi-final win against India followed by another huge victory over South Korea, which ended in the scoreline reading 26-16.
9. Sandeep Narwal (UP Yoddahs)
Sandeep Narwal
Narwal has been a chameleon and changed so much in his career, the post reads. He has converted himself from being a corner defender to probably the greatest all-rounder ever) He even has the most super tackles in history (29).
Narwal’s trademark, rugged defense is rated high across the sport and in his breakthrough season three, he became a key cog in Patna Pirates’ defensive machinery.
It helps when you have his blend of unpredictable pace and agility along with some brute strength that makes him one of the all-time greats.
He has somewhat fallen off in recent years, but he was taken by UP Yoddahs and a great chance is for him to change the fortunes of their season.
10. Ajay Thakur (Dabang Delhi K.C.)
Ajay Thakur
Rohit KumarIt was Rohit Kumar who is last in our list and he has been one of the more dependable raiders ever since the beginning of VIVO pro kabaddi league.
Thakur has been part of the game for a quite long time, playing for teams including Bengaluru Bulls and Puneri Paltan along with Tamil Thalaivas and Dabang Delhi K.C.
Nicknamed “King of Kabaddi”, he led the India national team to victory at the 2017 Asian Kabaddi Championship, although it was not a part of PKL.
With over 800 points along with more than 110 matches Thakur brings tons of experience and quality to the table.
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