Pro Kabaddi League: Top 5 Raiders of all time
Zee Entertainment went to war with BCCI and ICC to start the now-defunct league ICL in 2007. The money-making machine BCCI appointed a skinny Gujarati lad to solve the issue of ICL and he came up with IPL. Soon there were a plethora of sports leagues in India, ranging from badminton to tennis to hockey. In midst of the madness of these leagues, the till now hesitant kabaddi board came up with an idea of its own ‘Pro Kabaddi League’.
Pro Kabaddi League was not expected to be a success but, it proved all its doubters wrong. PKL changed the game of kabaddi. It introduced the world to attacking gameplay. The 'do or die raid' and 'super tackle' which were a brainchild of PKL negated the slow aspect of the game.
The aspect which was most affected by PKL was the raiding portion. PKL gifted some exceptional raiders to the world of babaddi who became an overnight sensation in the world. These raiders are partly responsible for making the game of kabaddi as popular as it is today. PKL has produced exceptional raiders in its five seasons of history with the sixth season already underway.
However, there are always some players who stand out of the crowd. Even in PKL, there have been a few raiders who have come out as the best out of the best. Let us take a look at top five of them:
#5 Kashiling Adake
The initial seasons of PKL were expected to be a season of hero worship. As kabaddi was not a famous sport in urban India, people were not aware of many players other than a few genuine stars such as Anup Kumar, Rakesh Kumar, Manjeet Chillar and a few other. Though, what stood out was a six feet tall Sangli born dusky raider who played for Dabang Delhi. His name was Kashiling Adake.
The son of a former wrestler, Adake mesmerised the world with his pace and flexibility. His signature move Frog jump is one of the most visually spectacular things you will see in a game of kabaddi. In the six seasons of PKL, he has scored 526 raid points in 78 games and is the fifth top scorer in its history.