Pro Kabaddi League is one of the most prominent Kabaddi leagues in the world, and this time it is going to be even bigger because of its grand comeback after the pandemic. The season will start on October 7 and will go on till mid-December. Last month’s auction was a huge success, with several stars going for a whopping amount.
Legendary player Pawan Sehrawat created history by becoming the costliest player ever in the history of PKL. He was sold to Tamil Thalaivas for a whopping 2.26 crore. On the other hand, ‘Dubki King’ Pardeep Narwal was sold to UP Yoddha for 90 lakh.
Gujarat Giants showed interest in buying Pardeep, but the Yoddha used their FBM to retain their star raider. Vikash Khandola made headlines with his jaw-dropping 1.70 crore bid to play for the Bengaluru Bulls. Tamil Thalaivas and Bengaluru Bulls were unstoppable in their bidding to get Vikash, which eventually went in favour of the Bulls.
With less than a month left for Season 9, all the franchises are geared up to lift the title. Because of their exceptional record in the past, teams like Patna Pirates and Dabang Delhi will be favourites. While Patna Pirates had won the title thrice in a row in the past, Dabang Delhi lifted the trophy in the previous season.
With some fabulous records by the players over the years, let us showcase to you the Pro Kabaddi League’s all-time Kabaddi seven. Here is the list:
Pardeep Narwal
Pardeep Narwal, the automatic choice in the playing seven, has been brilliant over the years in this esteemed league. It was Pardeep Narwal who led the Patna Pirates to victory on multiple occasions because of his exceptional raiding skills. So far, Pardeep has 1348 raid points in 131 matches. He is the first Kabaddi player to achieve the milestone of 1000+ raid points. No one is close to the legend as of now.
With an average of 10.29 raid points per match, Pardeep Narwal is an absolute magician in the Kabaddi arena. With a fan base in the millions, Pardeep Narwal is poised to increase his point total yet again. He will be playing for UP Yoddha again in the upcoming season.
He scored 188 points last season, which is a great number, but a player of his calibre can score way more than this. Pardeep’s best season came in 2017 when he scored 369 points in a single season, which is still a record.
Maninder Singh
Maninder Singh in one of the games after scoring a raid point
The lead raider of the Bengal Warriors, Maninder Singh, is on everyone’s list when it comes to the all-time best raiders in the PKL. Maninder has been a regular part of the Bengal Warriors and played a crucial role in making his team victorious in the seventh season. The 32-year-old scored 212 raid points in the PKL 7. Maninder was retained by the franchise in the elite category ahead of the auction and will look to lift the title for the second time.
The top raider has scored 993 raid points in 101 matches to date in the Pro Kabaddi League. He is all set to join Pardeep Narwal in the 1000+ raid points category soon. A player like Maninder will achieve this feat in his first game only. This year, Maninder will have a lot of help from Deepak Niwas Hooda, who was purchased by the franchise in an auction.
Pawan Sehrawat
The hot-favourite Pawan Sehrawat is set to play for Telugu Titans in the upcoming season. He was bought by the franchise for a humongous amount of 2.26 crore. Having played for Bengaluru Bulls in the past, Pawan gave his best in every match since the inception of his PKL career. In the league so far, he has 986 points in 104 matches which is an impressive record. He is just behind Maninder Singh and Pardeep Narwal in terms of raid points. Pawan will certainly touch the 1000+ mark in terms of raid points in his first couple of games only.
In the previous edition, the 23-year-old scored 320 raid points at a raid strike rate of 64%. Tamil Thalaivas would be hoping that his great form would continue for them in the upcoming season.
Sandeep Narwal
Sandeep Narwal has been one of the best all-rounders in the history of PKL. With 348 tackle points to his name, he is one of the few players to achieve this feat. In the recently concluded auction, Sandeep remained unsold which raised several eyebrows, but the legend found a buyer in the form of Gujarat Giants, who recently added Sandeep to their squad. He was a part of the winning team, Dabang Delhi, last season and contributed well too.
The experienced all-rounder has played 149 matches in the PKL and has been there since its inception. The man from Sonipat might not be at his best now, but his experience would help Gujarat do wonders in the upcoming season. Sandeep has 29 Super Tackles to his name so far, and he will look to increase this number a bit in Season 9.
Fazal Attrachali
Due to his unbelievable experience in the PKL, Fazal Attrachali is also an automatic choice in the team. The Iranian legend has played 125 games in the PKL and scored 368 tackle points to date. He is still fit and ready to go in the upcoming season, where he will be playing for Puneri Paltans. The legendary defender was bought for 1.38 crore in the auction, and it was all worth it for the Paltans.
Fazal played for U Mumba in the previous edition and scored 51 tackle points. He would want to repeat a similar kind of performance with Puneri Paltans now. The defense would surely be strong with Fazal Attrachali in the all-time PKL team.
Manjeet Chhillar
Manjeet Chhillar is raiding in one of the games where he was a part of the Jaipur Pink Panthers
One of the most experienced Kabaddi players of all time, Manjeet Chhillar is someone who has every bit of experience at every stage of the game. He can raid, defend, lead, and can do much more in this sport. Just like Sandeep Narwal, Manjeet was also a part of Dabang Delhi in the previous season. That was his last season, and now he is an assistant coach of the Telugu Titans.
Manjeet has played 132 games in the league so far and scored 391 tackle points, which is the most by any Kabaddi player in this prominent league. Attrachali is 23 tackle points behind, and he needs to work a bit to break this record. The Indian legend is set to take the Telugu Titans out of their bad phase. Because of his rich experience, he will be the captain of this all-time Kabaddi team of PKL.
Ravinder Pahal
The last name in this all-time PKL dream team, Ravinder Pahal, has been everyone’s favourite from the moment he started playing. He has a terrific record in the league, with 338 points in just 120 matches. The legend played for the Gujarat Giants in the previous season but couldn’t do well, which resulted in his ouster from the team.
Ravinder is now a part of the Telugu Titans, which is being assisted by Manjeet Chhillar. The experience of this duo can put the Telugu Titans back on track once again. Ravinder, being the most experienced player, has to take ownership this time to bring results.
Here is the all-time dream team:
Raiders: Pardeep Narwal, Maninder Singh, Pawan Sehrawat
All-Rounders: Sandeep Narwal, Manjeet Chhillar(c)
Defenders: Fazal Attrachali, Ravinder Pahal