Star Sports Pro Kabaddi: Team of the Pune Leg

Pardeep Narwal

The Star Sports Pro Kabaddi has reached its halfway mark with the culmination of the Pune leg. The home team Puneri Paltan registered a win, a loss and two draws in their four matches while Patna Pirates continued their unbeaten run. U Mumba, meanwhile, won both of their games to sneak into the 3rd spot.

Despite the absence of star players from the teams due to the South Asian Games, several remarkable performances were witnessed at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex. Here, we take a look at the players who would make for the Best 7 based on their Pune leg performances:

Pardeep Narwal (Patna Pirates)

The 19-year-old Pardeep continued his rich vein of form as he helped his side remain unbeaten with a draw and a win in the Pune leg. In Patna Pirates' first match, they went up against the home side Puneri Paltans, and still came away unscathed. That was thanks largely to Pardeep, who put in an exceptional performance; he chipped in with 11 raid points and 3 tackle points. He added another 11 raid points to his name in the victory against Delhi, helping Patna maintain their dominant unbeaten streak.

Surendra Singh (Puneri Paltan)

New inductee Surendra seems to be making a habit of amassing bonus points by the truckload. In him, Puneri Paltan have a surprise package - a raider who can assist Manjeet Chhillar and Ajay Thakur in trying times, and who can also make deep inroads on his own. Although the Paltan would have expected to gain more from their home leg, they’d be relieved that they lost just once - and Surendra had a big part to play in that. In their final match against Bengaluru Bulls, the 25-year-old notched up 8 raid points, 5 of them being bonus points.

Rishank Devadiga (U Mumba)

With 17 points in two games, Rishank ensured U Mumba maintained their winning run and reached the 3rd spot in the table. The 21-year-old did an impeccable job in both their matches - against Bengal and Pune. Rishank looked at ease playing the role of the central raider in the absence of Anup Kumar.