PKL 2019 | Best 7 of Patna leg ft. Naveen Kumar, Sandeep Dhull and Neeraj Kumar
PKL
Patna leg was tougher than anyone anticipated for it to be where we saw Patna Pirates struggle to win which is surprising seeing their previous track record at home. We saw a lot of close and interesting matches and SportsCafe brings you the combined team of the Patna leg here.
Pawan Sehrawat, Raider, Bengaluru BullsÂ
Bengaluru Bulls has played two matches in the Patna leg and in both of those matches Pawan was the top performer. The first match was against Bengal Warriors in which he scored 29 points and that is the third-most points scored by an individual in the match. In the next match, Pawan showcased an all-round performance by scoring 13 raid points and also managed to get four tackle points. He is at the top of his game and he is capable of making his team win single-handedly. He is also on the top of the leaderboard for most raid points in the season so far which is 70. He is lethal in raiding as well as defence and is a great asset to his the defending champions.
Naveen Kumar, Raider, Dabang Delhi
This young gun has reimposed the faith that his team’s coach showed in him which led to retaining him after season 6. He has been phenomenal on the mat and is one of the youngest raiders to get this much success this early in his career. He currently has the most number of super 10s out of all the raiders playing in the league. He has scored four Super 10s in the five matches he has played so far. This is the testament to his consistency and his hard work that makes him one of the leading raiders of the season. He played one match in the Patna leg in which he scored 12 raid points against the lethal Jaipur Pink Panthers’ defence. This is just the starting and surely he will go a long way this season.Â
Vikas Kandola, Raider, Haryana Steelers
Vikas Kandola missed the first three matches this season but when he came he came back with a lot of promise. He was the highest scorer for Haryana last season by scoring 177 points and so the expectations from him were high this year as well. He has played only two matches till now but he looked well in form in both of them. in his first match against Tamil Thalaivas, he scored seven raid points and one tackle point but Haryana lost that match because nobody was able to support Kandola well. In his second match against Patna Pirates, Vikas scored his first Super 10 of the season which helped his team win the match against Patna.
Manjeet Chhilar, Left Cover, Tamil ThalaivasÂ
Manjeet Chhilar was awarded the Most Valuable Player in Season 2 and from then he has proved that right in every season. His understanding of the game not only helps in scoring points but also guiding his team. We have seen him instruct not only the defenders but also the raiders when they go for a raid. He has scored 22 tackle points in the season so far and he is fourth on the most tackle points leaderboard. He currently has the most tackle points in the Pro Kabaddi history (324). Manjeet scored three and four points in the two matches that Tamil Thalaivas played in the Patna leg out of which they won one and tied the other match.
Surinder Singh, Right Cover, U Mumba
A good defender not only scores points but also assists the other defenders as well and Surinder Singh is one of those. He has the record for most assists (100) in a single season which makes him a dependable player. He is currently second on the leaderboard of most tackle points by scoring 24 points in 7 matches he has played so far. In the last match, he played against Bengal Warriors and was the top defender for his team by scoring four tackle points. He is a reliable and consistent player which makes him the perfect player for this position.   Â
Sandeep Dhull, Left Corner, Jaipur Pink Panthers
He is one of the most successful left corner defenders in Pro Kabaddi so far. He is currently third on the leaderboard of most tackle points by scoring 23 points in the five matches he has played in the seventh edition of the league. In Panthers first match in Patna leg, Dhull scored eight tackle points including a super tackle which helped the Pink Panthers thrash the home team. In that match, he was on top of his game and seemed indestructible. He also is one of the most consistent defenders as he has the most number of High 5s against his name till now in the season. Dhull is a brilliant defender who is an asset to any team he plays for.
Neeraj Kumar, Right Corner, Patna Pirates
Neeraj is one of the underrated defenders of Patna Pirates as he is overshadowed by Jaideep's performance. However, in last night’s match, Neeraj showcased his capabilities by scoring eight tackle points out of nine attempts. This was his best performance till date in Pro Kabaddi league and that also helped Patna win their only game in front of the home crowd. He has scored a total of 19 points in seven matches he has played in this season and he did well in Patna leg too.
