Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Five talking points from Day 38 of PKL 5

#4 Haryana’s image makeover

Vikash Khandola's injury has proved to be a blessing in disguise as it has allowed Prashanth to come to the fore

When Season 5 began, Haryana was the team with the most formidable of defences. Defenders Surender Nada and Mohit Chhillar looked the team’s best bets as the team didn’t possess a raider of the kinds of Rohit Kumar or Rahul Chaudhari or Pardeep Narwal. The best they seemed to possess was Surjeet Singh.

But this game has shown that all punditry can fail in the face of the game’s uncertainty. Wazir Singh has upped his game with every match while Surjeet Singh has done what he was expected to whenever he has been given the opportunity.

And then there is the small matter of a certain Prashanth Kumar Rai who is giving the team selectors some facepalm moments with one after other stunning performances, forcing them to think why he wasn't given a chance before.

Even on Saturday, in front of a team with raiders like Rohit Kumar and Ajay Kumar, it was the raiders from Haryana who shone. Deepak Kumar Dahiya was fantastic with his first raid which he turned into a super raid by scoring four points and eventually finished with eight. Rai also continued his scorching form and had another night where he scored in excess of 15.

The 'Dhaakad boys' are well and truly turning on the heat with their raids now.