Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Five most underrated players in PKL 5
After completing the halfway mark in Sonepat, Pro Kabaddi Season 5 has continued to achieve great heights during the Ranchi leg. While some well-known players have continued their fine performances from the past, we have also seen some surprise shows amongst the under-performers of previous seasons.
It is quite difficult to get a slot in the starting seven of a team when a player has not done well in the previous seasons. However, despite below-par performances before, many got picked up in the PKL 5 auction due to lack of proven talent available in the pool.
Some of them took the chance with both hands and in the new season, they have managed to establish themselves as key players for their respective teams this time around.
Here are the top 5 underrated players of this season:
#5 Deepak Kumar Dahiya
Deepak Dahiya had never been a first-choice starter for Bengaluru Bulls across the four seasons and had been used as a substitute raider on most occasions. However, despite his below-par performances, he got picked up by the debutant franchise from his own state, the Haryana Steelers at the base price of Rs 12 lakhs.
He was used as a substitute in the initial stages of this season, but injury to key raider Vikas and loss of form for Surjeet and Prashanth came as a chance for Deepak Dahiya. He has been mainly used as a do-or-die expert by Haryana andh as established himself as a one of the best in the situation, scoring 29 raid points, which is joint 2nd highest by a raider in PKL 5 along with Ajay Kumar.
Deepak has scored a total of 43 raid points in 10 appearances so far, which is his highest tally in a single PKL season. He scored his first ever Super 10 this season against the Puneri Paltan.