Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Best playing 7 from the Lucknow leg

The Lucknow leg of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 5 ended with the home team UP Yoddha finally ending their five-match winless run with a victory over the Telugu Titans. The period also witnessed some thrilling matches, which went right down to the last raid. The pick of the matches has to be the inter-zonal clash between the Patna Pirates and the Puneri Paltan, which the highest scoring match in the league so far.

Prior to Lucknow, the Ahmedabad leg witnessed the emergence of new PKL stars and in the 'City of Nawabs', the trend continued with many youngsters putting in match-winning performances. The best starting lineup from the Lucknow leg features an Iranian left corner, a left cover making his PKL debut, a young right corner, and a right cover. It also features three superstar raiders!

Nitesh Kumar [Right-corner]

The young right corner defender played a big role in helping the UP Yoddha end their match winless run by producing a superb performance against the Telugu Titans. He scored a superb High 5 and was comfortably UP’s best defender of the match.

This was his second High 5 in PKL 5, both of which came against the Titans. His successful tackle on Rahul Chaudhari in the last minute of the match helped his side take the lead in the final minute. The right corner has superb thigh holds and blocks in his armory and has the potential to be a match-winning defender in the Yoddha's upcoming matches.