Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Top 5 raiders from the Haryana leg 

The Pro Kabaddi caravan reached the state of Haryana for the first time since its inception for the home leg of the JSW-owned Haryana Steelers, one of the four new entrants in the league's fifth edition. Sonepat is often regarded as the hot-bed of India's homegrown sport and if one was present in person at the Motilal Nehru School of Sports during the past week, the atmosphere in there was electric, to say the least. People thronged to the stadium in huge numbers not just to witness their home team but a host of other players across all teams who hail from their very own land.

Sonepat, then rightly welcomed PKL and lived up to its reference of the "bastion" of kabaddi with some spectacular matches taking place all throughout the week.

The home team had a mixed run of sorts, wherein they did embark on a good start but were not able to carry forth the momentum and finished their six consecutive matches with two wins, draws and losses each.

Primarily, a leg where the defence was the stronghold for most teams, we did not see many matches wherein there was a raid fest. However, the raiders did come to the party in their own measure and Sportskeeda thus looks at the 5 best players who led the attack for their team with their exploits on the mat.

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#5 Srikanth Jadhav (U Mumba)

Srikanth Jadhav picked up 12 points in the match against the Patna Pirates.

In a recent video, the local Maharashtra boy, Srikanth had highlighted the fact that he is living his dream at the moment while playing for U Mumba. One of the young guns, who has been particularly impressive given his ability to thrive in pressure situations when on a raid, Srikanth is one raider to watch out for in the near future.

In the match against the Patna Pirates, he led the charge alongside Kashi and picked up 12 raid points for the team, thus relieving the pressure off skipper Anup's shoulders.

#4 Nitin Tomar (UP Yoddha)

Nitin Tomar was bought for 93 lakhs at the auctions in May.

The skipper of the UP Yoddhas was the most expensive buy at the player auctions in May and well, he is rightly showcasing his worth to the management with some spectacular performances on the mat.

If it weren't for his raids, UP wouldn't have managed to get a close finish in the match against the Tamil Thalaivas. Nitin led the team from the front and amassed 14 raid points to his credit.

#3 Monu Goyat (Patna Pirates)

Monu Goyat has been supporting the Patna attack alongside Pardeep.

He can rightly be referred to as the man in the shadows of the spotlight that is Pardeep Narwal. Almost as lethal as his talismanic skipper, Monu has been very consistent with his stellar performances on the mat, largely supporting the attack which is spearheaded by Pardeep.

He does not rely on the bonus and backs his ability to get the touch points on rival defenders and hence proves to be a very vital asset for the side. He finished the Sonepat leg with an average of 9.5 raid points per match, a testament to his attacking skills and prowess.

#2 Kashiling Adake (U Mumba)

Kashiling Adake has embarked on some brilliant form in the recent matches.

The high-flying man from U Mumba continued with his stellar form in the Sonepat leg as well, with U Mumba riding majorly on his efforts to get the all-important win against the defending champions, Patna Pirates. The tall raider's speed and agility left the likes of Sachin Shingade and Vishal Mane absolutely hapless and thus he amassed points not just quickly but in heaps which gave the team an edge over their rivals.

He picked up 15 raid points that night and thus made it to this list in the second position, after taking the lead in the Mumbai leg previously.

#1 Pardeep Narwal (Patna Pirates)

Pardeep has picked up a total of 163 points in the season so far.

He may have donned the yellow and green jersey of the Patna Pirates but the star raider would have the feel of playing at home given the fact that he's grown up playing kabaddi on the mud grounds of Sonepat itself. He was rampant on the mat and notched up yet another inning of 21 raid points, this time against U Mumba in a losing cause.

He took advantage of the weak links in the Mumbai defence particularly Surinder Singh to keep the scoreboard ticking in his team's favour even as a potential all-out was in the offing. In the match prior to this one, he amassed 13 raid points against the defensively stronger Haryana Steelers which included 5 bonus points as well, powering his team to a draw against the home side.

Thus, overall, Pardeep finished the leg with a total of 34 raid points off just two matches.