The Pro Kabaddi League has altered the landscape of the sport completely, thanks to the introduction of innovative concepts like Do or Die raids, super tackles and timeouts. Kabaddi has overcome its traditional approach of going all out on the opponents as the teams now prefer to have a strategic approach towards the game.
The raiders and defenders now optimize their game according to the time left on the clock. Despite all the changes that the game has undergone, there have been a number of raiders who score a bulk of points with supreme ease. Just like a century is a milestone for the batsmen in cricket, a Super 10 is a milestone for the raiders in kabaddi.
As we build up to an exciting Pro Kabaddi 2019, here's a list of the 5 raiders who have scored the most Super 10s in the Pro Kabaddi League:
#5 Maninder Singh - 23
Maninder Singh has been the backbone of the teams he has represented in the raiding department, with a number up skills up his sleeve. Be it with the Jaipur Pink Panthers or the Bengal Warriors, Maninder has always given his best on the court.
He finished third on the raiders' leaderboard in the inaugural edition of Pro Kabaddi League, when he picked up five Super 10s for Jaipur. He missed the next three seasons of the league before joining the Kolkata-based franchise in season 5.
The running hand touch announced his return to the league with nine Super 10s in 21 matches. He maintained his consistency in season 6 by picking nine Super 10s once again.
Maninder is all set to feature for the Bengal Warriors in season 7 as well. He will have the support of Mohammad Nabibhaksh this year in the raiding department.
#4 Deepak Niwas Hooda - 24
2016 World Cup winning all-rounder Deepak Niwas Hooda has always been one of the most valued players in the Pro Kabaddi League. He was the most expensive player of the first ever season of this league and proved why he deserved all the appreciation.
In the 103 matches that Deepak has played in Pro Kabaddi League, he has picked up 785 points, of which 710 points have come via raid points.
The running hand touch specialist holds the record of scoring the most raid points among all the all-rounders. He picked up three Super 10s in season 1 but could only register one Super 10 in season 2.
Playing for the Puneri Paltan in the third edition, Deepak aggregated 69 raid points, with only one Super 10. His bettered his performance to register two Super 10s in season 4 before his then-best came in season 5 when he recorded five Super 10s.
One of the fittest players of the league, Deepak Hooda had his best season in the previous edition, picking up 10 Super 10s and finished the edition with 208 points from 22 matches.
#3 Ajay Thakur - 28
Tamil Thalaivas skipper Ajay Thakur's hunger for raid points has grown with time and his numbers reflect the same. Thakur kicked off his PKL career with the Bengaluru Bulls in the inaugural season. The 'frog jump' specialist spent two seasons with the Bulls, notching up a combined total of seven Super 10s.
He switched to Puneri Paltan in the third season where he could add just 2 Super 10s in two seasons. However, his statistics improved by leaps and bounds in the fifth and sixth editions of the league.
Thakur led his new team, the Tamil Thalaivas from the front with an unbelievable 12 Super 10s in 22 matches, three more Super 10s than what he had picked up from the first four seasons combined.
Thakur's performance took a dip in season 6 but the veteran still managed to score seven Super 10s for the Thalaivas. Rahul Chaudhari and Shabeer Bappu will join forces with Ajay Thakur for PKL 2019 as the fans gear up for an exciting display of raiding from the Chennai-based franchise.
#2 Rahul Chaudhari - 36
The man who owes his success to the Pro Kabaddi League is the 'poster boy' of Indian kabaddi, Rahul Chaudhari, who has the second most Super 10s in the history of the league.
The tall raider is also known as the 'raid machine' of the league owing to his stupendous raiding skill since the inception of the league. Chaudhari scored eight Super 10s in the first season and in the next 3 seasons, he added 16 more Super 10s to his name.
Chaudhari's numbers dropped as the seasons progressed but he managed to shoulder the raiding department of the Telugu Titans for six seasons. For the first time in the history of the PKL, Chaudhari will represent the Tamil Thalaivas in the upcoming edition of Pro Kabaddi League.
With an aim to put his poor show in season six behind, from where he scored only four Super 10s, Chaudhari could be expected to enjoy a fine run under Ajay Thakur.
#1 Pardeep Narwal - 44
Though Randhir Singh, the coach of Bengaluru Bulls is known as the mastermind of kabaddi, he failed to recognize the talent in Pardeep Narwal when the youngster was a part of the Bengaluru Bulls in season 2.
Pardeep played only four matches for the Bulls before moving to the Patna Pirates in season 3. This move changed the life of Pardeep as he quickly rose to stardom. The 'Dubki King' scored 116 raid points in PKL 3, which included 5 Super 10s.
He continued his fine show in season 4 as he recorded five Super 10s once again. However, his best performance arrived when he teamed up with Monu Goyat in season 5. The duo took the Pro Kabaddi League by storm with their raiding skills.
Narwal scored a breathtaking 19 Super 10s in that edition of the Pro Kabaddi League and finished with 369 raid points from 26 matches, the most for any player in a single edition of the league.
His fantastic performances took Patna Pirates to their 3rd consecutive Pro Kabaddi title. The MVP of season 4 and season 5 registered 15 Super 10s in season 6 to take his overall tally to 44.