Kabaddi, like most other sports, is a game of attack and defence. The attackers, or raiders in this case, are more often than not responsible for winning games. Raiding is a solo art and as such, they hog the most limelight.
The raiders score the majority of points through their quick movement, smart thinking and alertness. There are a lot of moves involved from toe touches to back kicks. Here we look at the top five raiders of Pro Kabaddi league so far.
#5 Ajay Thakur
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Super 10s – 9
Hailing from Himachal Pradesh, 31-year-old Ajay Thakur will turn up for Team Tamil Nadu this time around. He has played 58 matches so far in Pro Kabaddi League having previously played for Puneri Paltan in season 3 and 4 and Bengaluru Bulls in season 1 and 2.
He has racked up a total of 316 raid points on an average of 5.45 per game. He has made a total of 721 raids out of which 237 were successful. He has 9 green cards and 1 yellow card to his name. He has won gold medals in Kabaddi World Cup 2016 and 2014 Asian Games as well.
#4 Pardeep Narwal
Super 10s - 10
Hailing from the state of Haryana, this 20-year-old raider is a back to back champion with Patna Pirates in the last two seasons, who have unsurprisingly decided to retain him. Prior to that, he played for Bengaluru Bulls in season 2. He is also a gold medallist at the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup.
He has notched up a total of 256 raid points in 38 matches played so far at an impressive average of 6.74 per game. He has made 488 forays into the opposing half out of which 190 have been successful.
#3 Anup Kumar
Super 10s – 11
Hailing from Haryana, this 33-year-old raider is vastly experienced having been part of the India national kabaddi team that won gold medals in 2010 and 2014 Asian Games. He has also won the gold in 2016 Kabaddi World Cup and was conferred the Arjuna Award for his achievements.
He is the captain of the India national kabaddi team as well as U Mumba, for whom he has played in all the seasons of Pro Kabaddi League and was rightly retained once again. In total, he has played 57 matches and scored 377 raid points at an average of 6.61.
He has 307 successful raids out of a total of 938 raids. He has 16 green cards and 2 yellow cards to his name.
#2 Kashiling Adake
Super 10s – 11
Hailing from Maharashtra, 24-year-old Kashiling Adake will ply his trade for U Mumba in the upcoming season. He has played for Dabang Delhi in all the seasons of the Pro Kabaddi league so far. He is a gold medallist at the 2014 Asian Games.
He has played a total of 52 matches in which he has racked up 380 raid points at an average of 7.31. He has 293 successful raids to his name out of a total of 803 raids. He has collected 6 green cards.
#1 Rahul Chaudhari
Super 10s - 24
Poster boy of Indian kabaddi, 23-year-old Rahul Chaudhari hails from Uttar Pradesh. He was a member of the India national kabaddi team that won gold in Kabaddi world Cup 2016 as well as 2016 South Asian Games. He is the captain of Telugu Titans for whom he has played in all the seasons so far and will turn out for them again next season.
In 57 matches played, he has accumulated a record 482 points, the highest by any player at an average of 8.46 per game. He was the best raider in seasons 1 and 4. He has 385 successful raids out of 957. He has 6 green cards and 1 yellow card to his name.
