Pro Kabaddi 2022: 3 raiders who can break Pardeep Narwal's record for most raid points in PKL history
Pardeep Narwal is one of the biggest names in the kabaddi world. He is the most successful raider in Pro Kabaddi League history with 1,267 points to his name from 123 matches. Many fans have nicknamed him the 'Dubki King' because of his perfect execution of dubkis.
Narwal ruled Pro Kabaddi during his stint with the Patna Pirates, where scoring a Super 10 was an easy task for him. He even scored 30 or more points in a few games. However, Pardeep has not been the same raider in the UP Yoddha colors this season.
UP Yoddha grabbed the headlines by signing him for a record-breaking sum of ₹1.65 crore ahead of this season. Surprisingly though, the team management benched Pardeep Narwal for 35 minutes in their last match against Patna Pirates.
It seemed like Pardeep was not even the team's fourth raider, because the likes of Shrikant Jadhav, Surender Gill, Aman and Sahil got a chance to raid before him. Here's what the coach Jasveer Singh had to say about the 25-year-old in the post-match press conference:
"Pardeep Narwal has the strength but he is lacking speed. See we are living in a bio-bubble. We do not have a big ground. He played well in the initial games, but the numbers came down after that. In the hotel, at the gym, you cannot train like at the ground."
While Pardeep's form has dipped a little this year, it is not that he hasn't troubled any defenders. So far in PKL 8, he has scored 107 raid points in 16 matches. Pardeep is currently ninth on the Most Raid Points, suggesting that he is still performing better than many others.
However, looking at how Pardeep Narwal was benched in the last match, it seemed like a hint that the team management may not use him as a primary raider. If Pardeep does not play regularly, the following three raiders can overtake him on the all-time raid points leaderboard.
#1 Pawan Kumar Sehrawat, Bengaluru Bulls
Pawan Kumar Sehrawat is currently the No. 1 raider in PKL 8. He is the only player to have scored 200 raid points this season. At the moment, Pawan is fifth on the all-time list with 898 raid points.
He still needs to score 369 raid points to match Pardeep Narwal, but if the latter does not play regularly, Pawan can inch closer to him very quickly.
#2 Maninder Singh, Bengal Warriors
Bengal Warriors captain Maninder Singh is fourth on the all-time list with 918 raid points in his PKL career. Singh could have scored more points if he had played all seasons, but he still has a chance of becoming the No. 1 raider.
Singh has played with supreme consistency for Bengal over the last three seasons. If he continues in the same vein, he can attain the top spot some day soon.
#3 Naveen Kumar, Dabang Delhi KC
Naveen Kumar has only played 55 matches in Pro Kabaddi, but has already scored 608 raid points. It looks like the defenders have no answers to Naveen's skills.
He was the No. 1 raider in PKL 8 not long ago. However, because of an injury, Naveen has not played regularly of late. Looking at his consistency, it goes without saying that Naveen has the potential to become the No. 1 name on the all-time Most Raid Points list.