PKL Melbourne Raid: Predicting the Playing 7 of the Pro Kabaddi All Stars ft. Anup Kumar, Ajay Thakur & Pardeep Narwal

The Pro Kabaddi League's exhibition matches in Melbourne are the talk of the town in recent times. Officially named the PKL Melbourne Raid, the legends of the game are all set to return to the kabaddi mat on December 28.

The first match of the day will witness the PKL All Star Mavericks led by Ajay Thakur take on the PKL All Star Masters led by Rakesh Kumar. What will follow will be a match between the AFL players playing for the Aussie Raiders and the Pro Kabaddi All Stars, led by Anup Kumar.

The Pro Kabaddi All Stars' squad is a combination of the Mavericks and the Masters squads who will be playing earlier in the day.

Pro Kabaddi All Stars (Squad): Anup Kumar (c), Rakesh Kumar, Ajay Thakur, Deepak Hooda, Maninder Singh, Pardeep Narwal, Sukesh Hegde, Jeeva Kumar, Sandeep Narwal, Vishal Bhardwaj, Nitin Rawal, Ran Singh. Coach: E Bhaskaran.

On that note, let us take a look at how the Pro Kabaddi All Stars could line up as they take on the Aussie legends:

Corners: Sandeep Narwal (right) & Ran Singh (left)

Sandeep Narwal's muscular figure will be in the right corner to tackle the hefty AFL players. Accompanying him in the left cover will be Ran Singh, who isn't expected to play the first match and will be fresh to take on the Aussie raiders.

With Vishal Bhardwaj and Nitin Rawal in the squad too, there are plenty of options for skipper Anup Kumar for the left corner position.

Covers: Rakesh Kumar (right) & Jeeva Kumar (left)

Former Indian captain Rakesh Kumar, after leading the PKL All Star Masters, will feature in this game as well. Rakesh could play in the right cover position and some mighty dashes can be expected from him.

Jeeva Kumar could start in the left cover position. He was an instrumental part of the Season 2 title-winning U Mumba team and has held coaching roles in many teams thereafter.

Raiders: Anup Kumar (c), Ajay Thakur, Pardeep Narwal

Captain Cool Anup Kumar will lead the side. Following an illustrious career in U Mumba and the Indian national team, he will be looking to get back on the mat after over half a decade.

Another former Indian team captain, Ajay Thakur, will share raiding responsibilities. Pardeep Narwal fill complete a dangerous-looking trio of raiders. After a sub-par PKL 11, Pardeep will look to flex his skills against the Aussie Raiders.

Bench: Deepak Hooda, Maninder Singh, Sukesh Hegde, Vishal Bhardwaj, Nitin Rawal

Do-or-die raid specialist and a handy defender Deepak Hooda will be on the bench. Maninder Singh and Sukesh Hegde can be called upon by the skipper too to provide some break to the starters. Two left corner options in Vishal Bhardwaj and Nitin Rawal will be available as well.