Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Top 5 defenders from the Ranchi leg

Ranchi hosting the recently concluded leg of Pro Kabaddi League meant that Patna featured every day in the last week. Earlier one of the brightest teams in the league, the defending champions' presence on the mat has now become synonymous with poor defending and they didn't do their reputation any good by putting in even more deplorable defence shows. Not only Patna, but even the other teams struggled with their defence in the Ranchi leg of Season 5, making the job to pick the top five defenders a little difficult.

However, the usual suspects, who have continuously fared well in the tournament and have deservedly established themselves as the best defenders of Season 5 showed no let up in the intensity and claimed the top honours in this leg as well. Here are the top 5 defenders from the Ranchi leg.

#1 Surender Nada (Haryana Steelers)

Apart from his superlative defending, Nada has vastly improved as a leader in Season 5 of PKL

It's been some time since Surender Nada hasn't let go of the top spot in the list of most tackle points. He has been consistent throughout Season 5 and his confidence has rubbed on to his team as well who, despite a sluggish start to the season, now confidently occupy the second spot in Zone A with 56 points.

Nada has simply been the Pardeep Narwal of defence this season, collecting High 5s with ease. The Haryana management took a bit of a gamble by resting both Nada and his partner in crime Mohit Chhillar for the team's last two games in the and, needless to say, it backfired badly. They first drew with Jaipur Pink Panthers and then went down to Puneri Paltan resulting in them losing the momentum that they had managed to gather as well.

In came Surender Nada in the next fixture against Jaipur Pink Panthers and did what he does best - made seven tackle attempts, collected five tackle points and helped his team secure a win by 4 points. Easy.

#2 Fazel Atrachali (Gujarat Fortunegiants)

Atrachali continues to be the pillar of Gujarat defence along with fellow Iranian Mighani

While Gujarat Fortunegiants made light work of U Mumba in their first encounter in Ranchi, one man who missed out on the party was a certain Fazel Atrachali. Atrachali could get his team only a couple of points that night and let Parvesh Bhainswal run away with the best defender of the night crown.

However, he was back in his elements when the two teams met again four days later. The game's hero was obviously Chandran Ranjit who put Gujarat ahead in the first half with his superb raiding but Fazel Atrachali got himself a High-5 too to put his previous match's disappointments behind.

His tackles on Shrikant Jadhav and Anup Kumar were particularly spectacular and demonstrated both the raw power the defender possesses as well as his skill. After a few dry matches, this was exactly the kind of performance the Iranian needed to spring back to form.

#3 Vishal Bhardwaj (Telugu Titans)

Bhardwaj currently occupies the second place in the list of defenders with most tackle points

With the tournament reaching its business end, Vishal Bhardwaj can no more be talked of in the same way as he was talked about when the tournament began. He is no more a rookie. In fact, in a team struggling with form, he has shown a lot of courage and has constantly turned in pride salvaging performances.

In the tie against Bengaluru Bulls, his three super tackles were simply phenomenal and helped his team to draw the game which they didn't look like drawing till the 35th minute of the game.

He ended up with seven points for his team in the match, just one less than raider Rahul Chaudhari and got himself earmarked as the best thing to happen to Telugu Titans this season. The only thing Bhardwaj needs to curb is his tendency to pick up cards for unnecessary banter which can get him into trouble as it did his Ravinder Pahal earlier this season, who was also his opposite number in the match against Bengaluru Bulls.

#4 Sidharth (Jaipur Pink Panthers)

Sidharth would need more such performances to merit a place in Jaipur side regularly

Although an all-rounder who has been neither very effective in the defence or raiding throughout his team's campaign in Season 5, Jaipur Pink Panthers Siddharth made merry when he turned up against Meraj Sheykh's Dabang Delhi. While a High 5 against a slightly easier opponent might not have merited a place in lists of top defenders from other legs of Season 5, Sidharth's effort makes it to the list due to the lack of more such credible performances in a leg of PKL that has been ailed by shoddy defending.

Moreover, on that night Sidharth stood tall and over names like Manjeet Chhillar and restricted Meraj Sheykh from making early inroads. Sheykh's confidence looked shaken and he left mostly with empty raids which eventually benefited the Panthers who happily took a win by eleven points.

#5 Ravinder Pahal (Bengaluru Bulls)

Ravinder Pahal needs to take more responsibility for Bengaluru Bulls

The 'Hawk' had a see-saw of a season this year. He looked fabulous when he started off with the Bulls but then lost his form, looked frustrated with himself and lost his cool to earn a ban after an argument with the referee. With the Bengaluru Bulls down and out in Season 5, Pahal has found his way back to the team and has looked good in his familiar right corner position.

Although he got only four points against Telugu Titans in Ranchi, those coming in five attempts were worth their weight in gold in a low-scoring encounter which eventually ended in a breathtaking tie. With his temperament issues earning him a bad rep, the time is just perfect for the veteran to hit back at critics with performances that made him the feared name that he is in the league. If he can string together a few more performances like the one he put in against Telugu Titans, it won't take too long for fans to forget his ban.