5 things you might have missed in Pro Kabaddi League 2018-19

Pro Kabaddi League Season 6 ended in a thrilling fashion as tears rolled down with emotions for Bengaluru Bulls as they defeated Gujarat Fortune Giants (38-33) in the final to claim their first-ever coveted prize, the Pro Kabaddi League trophy.

For the Gujarat Fortune Giants, however, it was another heartbreaking season when they pushed themselves to the limit to reach the final but lost their momentum in the second half and became the runners-up for the second time courtesy of Pawan Sehrawat's hurricane of 22 raid points in 25 attempts.

The sixth edition of Pro Kabaddi saw many records getting shattered just in the span of an exhilarating 3-months. The 'Mumboy Wonder' Siddharth Desai became the fastest raider to score 50, 100, 150 and 200 raid points in PKL history whereas Nitesh Kumar became the first ever player to score a century (100) of tackle points in a single season of Pro Kabaddi.

Season 6 also gave us new milestones to cherish in the days to come. Pardeep Narwal surpassed Rahul Chaudhari to have the most raid points (858) and most Super 10s (44). Also, Manjeet Chhillar became the first ever player to score 300 tackle points in Pro Kabaddi history.

The league has recently concluded with fans getting a bit downcasted about what they're going to do in the night time without action-packed Kabaddi. As for the exciting part to continue furthermore, let's look at 5 things you didn't know happened in Pro Kabaddi League Season 6.

#5 U Mumba came out with at least 1 point from all their matches in the league stage

Fazel Atrachali led U Mumba as one of the strongest sides of Season 6.

U Mumba was the only team in Season 6 to not have a loss with a margin of 7 or more in all, 22of their group stage matches or even at the Eliminator 1 against UP Yoddha.

Their losses against Haryana Steelers (35-31) and Gujarat Fortune Giants (39-35) in Match no. 59 and 75 respectively had the highest deficit of just 4 points. Perhaps, U Mumba has shown real competitiveness throughout the league stages because of their depth in raiding department and rock-solid defensive displays led by the Iranian, Fazel Atrachali and raiding sensation, Siddharth Desai.

U Mumba had 15 wins throughout group stages, four of them came at their home turf. With 86 points in the league stage, they finished 2nd from Zone A and faced UP Yoddha in the Eliminator 1 which ended in a defeat (29-34).

#4 Anup Kumar was just four points away to score 600 total points

A selfless act followed after an emotional retirement as fans expected to witness Anup Kumar for one final time on the mat. Anup Kumar was just 4 points away to become only the seventh player to have 600 total points. However, his retirement came in on his son's birthday as he opted not to play a farewell match.

Anup had been struggling with his form in the first half of group stages because of which he decided to give other players a chance in the team. In Season 6, Anup Kumar scored only 38 raid points and 12 tackle points in 13 matches which led him and the management staff to make Deepak Niwas Hooda, the new captain of Jaipur Pink Panthers.

Anup Kumar at the end of Season 6 stands at the 7th position of total points with 596 points which consist of 527 raid points along with thirteen Super 10s.

#3 Dabang Delhi K.C. had the most wins in their home leg

Out of the many surprises, Dabang Delhi K.C. with the most wins in their home leg by any team in Season 6, was perhaps the least expected before the start of the season. The fans who witnessed their favorite team live at Thyagaraj Complex, Delhi got their value for money after an outstanding performance by the team.

Dabang Delhi K.C. beat Jaipur Pink Panthers (48-35), lost against U Mumba (34-41) and won back against Puneri Paltan (35-24), Telugu Titans (34-29), Bengaluru Bulls (32-31) and Tamil Thalaivas (37-33), to make it a total of 5 wins in 6 games.

Iranian Meraj Sheykh had a wonderful outing with 47 raid points in the home leg followed by Naveen Kumar's 43 raid points. Ravinder Pahal scored 14 tackle points in those 6 games.

Dabang Delhi K.C. also became the first team in Pro Kabaddi history to defeat Gujarat Fortune Giants in their home leg (29-26).

#2 Sandeep Narwal the best when the defenders are less

Sandeep Narwal's solo tackle on Chandran Ranjit.

Known as 'The Beast from the East' Sandeep Narwal, who has now made West (Pune) his home, holds the record for the most super tackles by any player (23) in Pro Kabaddi surpassing Dharmaraj Cherelathan and Jeeva Kumar who now stand at 21 super tackles each.

Sandeep Narwal is all about pure strength combined with agility and excitement. Raw aggression combined with power and swiftness, Sandeep Narwal has given some memorable moments in Season 6.

Sandeep Narwal scored 41 tackle points and 25 raid points in 18 matches in played in Season 6. His best performance was against Haryana Steelers where he scored 7 points to win (35-33) the game for his side.

At the culmination of Season 6, Sandeep Narwal stands at the 4th position in the most super tackles of Season 6 list with 7 to his name in the season. Vishal Bhardwaj leads the chart with the most super tackles this season (9) followed by Abozar Mighani and Nitesh Kumar with 8 each.

#1 Rahul Chaudhari - A Do-Or-Die specialist in the making?

Rahul Chaudhari with his running hand touch.

Rahul Chaudhari has had a relative offseason in Season 6 as he could score only 159 raid points in 21 matches at an average of 7.57. He stands 12th in the total raid points list of Season 6 with just four Super 10s to his name.

However, Rahul jointly tops the list of having the most do or die raid points in Season 6 with 43 points (approximately 27.04%). The other topper, Shrikant Jadhav also has 43 points but from 25 outings.

In the middle of the tournament when the team was struggling to register wins en route to the playoffs, the team management decided to have Nilesh Salunkhe as the frontline raider in place of Rahul Chaudhari.

Rahul found it difficult to read the defense considering his escapes were not swift nor any execution of jumps or toe touches. He scored his first Super 10 in his sixth match against Patna Pirates (17 raid points). In the middle of group stages, Rahul got a new role of clinching bonuses in the do or die raids or making a revival when it mattered the most, and he finally found his groove to successfully mold to his role in the side.

Ajay Thakur leads the chart of the most do or die raid points in all seasons (145 points).