Pro Kabaddi 2022: Top 5 raiders from 1st half of the tournament

Pawan Sehrawat (L) and Maninder Singh were very consistent in the first half of PKL 8 (Image Source: Instagram)

Gujarat Giants defeated Tamil Thalaivas 37-35 last night to bring about an end to the first half of Pro Kabaddi 2022. Bengaluru Bulls, Dabang Delhi KC and Patna Pirates were the most successful teams in the first 66 games of the season.

One of the major reasons behind their success was the good performance of their raiders. While the Bulls and the Dabangs relied majorly on just one star raider, the Pirates achieved success thanks to their raiding trio of Monu Goyat, Sachin Tanwar and Prashanth Kumar Rai.

Now that the first half is done and dusted, let's take a look at the top five raiders of Pro Kabaddi 2022.

#5 Surender Gill - 94 raid points

Gill's got some fine raiding skills 😉👌🏾

Surender Gill's remarkable 21-point performance against @PuneriPaltan made him our Raider of the Day!

#SuperhitPanga #PUNvUP @UpYoddha https://t.co/N3lrnAMEAv

With 94 raid points, UP Yoddha's rising star Surender Gill outscored Record-Breaker Pardeep Narwal to emerge as the best raider from his team in the first half of PKL Season 8.

The tall raider stole the show against Puneri Paltan by scoring 21 points and helping his team win by a 50-40 margin.

#4 Arjun Deshwal - 127 raid points

👀 nahi hati, durghatna bhi nahi ghati 😅

Arjun Deshwal is inching towards a fine Super 10! Will he lead @JaipurPanthers to a victory tonight?

#JPPvTT #SuperhitPanga https://t.co/q5YtALljUG

Former U Mumba raider Arjun Deshwal has played brilliantly for his new franchise Jaipur Pink Panthers in Pro Kabaddi 2022. The rising star was one of four raiders to score 100 or more points in the first half.

Deshwal started the season with seven back-to-back Super 10s. He now has 127 raid points from 11 matches.

#3 Naveen Kumar - 135 raid points

Before Dabang Delhi were thrashed by the Bengaluru Bulls, Naveen Kumar had put in 62.06% of their raids.

Unsurprisingly, in his absence, Delhi were outplayed. Time to reduce the youngster's workload for the team's good?🤔

My take👇

#ProKabaddi
#PKL

sportskeeda.com/kabaddi/pro-ka…

Naveen Kumar was at the top of the raiders' leaderboard of Pro Kabaddi 2022 before getting injured. The Dabang Delhi KC raider scored 135 raid points from just nine games in the first half of the season.

Kumar has not yet fully recovered from his injury. Fans will hope that he returns to the mat soon.

#2 Maninder Singh - 138 raid points

Most Super Raids this season - 5️⃣ (Maninder Singh)

Super-Mani for a reason 💯

How many raid points will he score in #BENvCHE? 🤔

#SuperhitPanga @BengalWarriors https://t.co/M2y9I8wQZX

Defending champions Bengal Warriors have relied a lot on their captain Maninder Singh in the eighth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League so far. Despite having the likes of Mohammad Nabibakhsh, Sukesh Hegde and Rishank Devadiga in the raiding attack, Bengal's chances of winning have depended solely on Maninder's performances.

The raider amassed 138 raid points from Bengal's first 11 matches. Singh scored eight raid points against Bengaluru Bulls in the opening game of the second half last night, which has now taken his tally to 146 raid points.

#1 Pawan Sehrawat - 153 raid points

Hi-Flyer 🤝Super 10 - name a better combination 🧐

Pawan Sehrawat's 13-point effort against the @BengalWarriors made him our Raider of the Day!

#SuperhitPanga #BLRvBEN @BengaluruBulls https://t.co/7wGGZbFhlT

Bengaluru Bulls captain Pawan Sehrawat was the best raider of the first half of the 2022 Pro Kabaddi League season. The High-Flyer scored 153 raid points and ensured that the Bulls remained in the upper half of the standings.

Sehrawat continued his fine form in the opening game of the second half against the Bengal Warriors last night. He notched up a Super 10 and took his overall tally to 164 raid points. It will be interesting to see if he can end the season as the best raider.