Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: 5 player battles to watch out for in the Nagpur leg

After a boisterous start to the new season of the Pro Kabaddi League in Hyderabad, the action moves to Nagpur for the home leg of the Bengaluru Bulls, who had to shift last moment out of their city for their home games.

Like the previous one, the next seven days will have a total of 11 matches and promise to be as exciting as the previous ones. In this article, we take a look at the best player battles that fans will get to see in the next seven days.

#1 Rohit Kumar (Bengaluru Bulls) vs Pardeep Narwal (Patna Pirates)

The most obvious pick of the lot, this battle royale between two of the competition's premier raiders is bound to be a fascinating one. Both are leading their respective sides for the first time and have had good starts to the tournament as well.

Pardeep has had two matches under their belt, both against the Telugu Titans, where amassed a whopping 27 points. Rohit too had a fine show against the men in yellow, picking up a Super 10 of his own.

As it happened: Telugu Titans vs Patna Pirates, 36-43

#2 Meraj Sheykh (Dabang Delhi) vs Sandeep Narwal (Puneri Paltan)

Meraj Sheykh (in blue)

Both Meraj and Sandeep have many things in common. Both are brilliant all-rounders, their teams' talismans, have played for the Telugu Titans and most importantly, they can change the game on their own.

It will be a fascinating showdown between the two as Dabang Delhi take on the Puneri Paltan. Meraj, with the weight of captaincy on him, will be supported by the likes of Nilesh Shinde and Bajirao Hodage in defense and will shoulder the raiding responsibilities primarily.

In contrast, Sandeep Narwal will look to support his side in defense and it will be fascinating to see how he fares against the mercurial Iranian's advances.

#3 Kashiling Adake (U Mumba) vs Nilesh Shinde (Dabang Delhi)

Kashi (right) played four seasons for Delhi

After four roller coaster seasons with the side from the national capital, Kashiling Adake moved to U Mumba ahead of the latest edition and for the first time, he will be up against his old team.

His first two seasons were spectacular for the Eagles but in the latest one, he was particularly disappointing and was even relieved of his captaincy duties after some poor displays. He will be bubbling ahead of this grudge match and will look to prove his worth to his previous employers.

The Delhi defense will be led by Nilesh Shinde, the former Bengal Warriors man, and his trusted aide Bajirao Hodage. Interestingly, all three men are from Maharashtra and have played together for years, which adds another layer of intrigue to this battle.

#4 Jang Kun Lee (Bengal Warriors) vs Nitin Tomar (UP Yoddha)

Jang Kun Lee (blue)

The UP Yoddha will be up against the Bengal Warriors in the Nagpur leg that will see another battle between the league's two top raiders. Both Jang Kun Lee (Rs 80.30 lakh) and Nitin Tomar (Rs 93 lakh) earned big bucks in the player auction and will have the weight of their price tags hovering on them.

To make matters even better, the duo are close friends off the mat and played Season 4 together with the Warriors. They know each other's games very well and it will be intriguing to see who comes out on top here.

#5 Fazel Atrachali (Gujarat Fortunegiants) vs Surender Nada (Haryana Steelers)

Gujarat and Haryana played out a tie in their first game

It's not the first time we are mentioning these two players in such an article but in the Nagpur leg, the Gujarat and Haryana sides will go head-to-head once again after playing out a scintillating stalemate in their first meeting.

The two are the best corner defenders in the business, individually as well as when combined with their corner pairing. Fazel has had a good start to the campaign and has shown his class at key moments. Nada too was excellent in his side's last game, coming up with vicious ankle holds for fun and stopping raiders in their tracks.

Their battle will hopefully go up a notch in the coming fixture and should have fans on the edge of their seats.