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

#3 Nitin Tomar (UP Yoddha)

Nitin Tomar has lived up to his price tag thus far

Just as was the case with the Gujarat Fortunegiants and U Mumba, the Patna Pirates and UP Yoddha faced each other twice during the course of this leg.

Fans were treated to two mouth-watering clashes, one on the second night in Ranchi and one on the final night. The teams split the contests, with each side winning one, but Yoddha captain Nitin Tomar was exceptional in both encounters.

In their first meeting last Saturday, the two teams produced a thriller of a contest where momentum swung both ways right through the encounter. However, they fell short in the end, losing by a mere three points, 42-45 in a high-scoring encounter.

Nitin led the way for his side with 14 raid points and he was tackled just twice in the entire match, both in the second half.

After having come so close the first time, the Yoddha were keen to actually get the win when they met last evening and initially it looked like they were going to crush the home team. They came out like a team on a mission as they quickly jumped out to an 18-4 lead in just 10 minutes. They didn't let that lead slip, maintaining a 30-16 lead with two minutes gone in the second.

Despite the Pirates' late comeback attempt, the Yoddha managed to stay ahead and Nitin Tomar was sensational as he finished with 16 raid points on the night. He even chipped in with two tackle points.

So in two games in this leg, Nitin finished with 30 raid points against the two-time champions, Patna Pirates. A colossal showing indeed.

Nitin's superb week in Ranchi sees him take third place from Rohit Kumar in the raid points tally for this season.