Pro Kabaddi League 2018: Top 5 youngsters who excelled in their debut season

The Pro Kabaddi League season six culminated in fine fashion as the Bengaluru Bulls lifted the coveted title for the first time in the history of the league as led by the 'raid storm' from Pawan Sehrawat, who scored 22 points, the Bulls claimed a thrilling win against the Gujarat Fortunegiants.

While Pawan Sehrawat was in top form all through the season and finished on top of the raiders leaderboard, the sixth season played host to some of the most exciting talents from the season as a few youngsters certainly made a big impact all through the league.

The likes of Sachin Tanwar, Mahender Singh, Surender Singh, and Vikas Kandola amongst others had a top run, there were other youngsters, who while only making their debut this season created quite a buzz with their dominating run.

Here are five youngsters, who created quite a stir in what was only their debut season in this edition of the lucrative league.

#5 Ruturaj Shivaji Koravi - Gujarat Fortunegiants

Koravi attempts a tackle on Pune's GB More

Koravi was drafted into the Gujarat Fortunegiants side at the back of a top show in the senior nationals for Maharashtra and with his services snapped up for a sum of ₹30.4 lakh, Koravi was bound to attract a lot of attraction.

The young right corner was in commendable form through the season and barring a few off-days, the burly defender's ankle holds and dashes proved to be vital in contributing to the strength of Gujarat's defensive unit.

Koravi started with a strong four-point show against Dabang Delhi K.C in the opening game and continued his top show as his fearless defending earned him 28 points from the first eleven matches and earned his first 'High-5' against the Jaipur Pink Panthers.

At the end of the season, Koravi finished with 47 tackle points from 23 matches at a decent average of 2.04 points per game.

#4 Manjeet - Patna Pirates

For a youngster to play under the tutelage of Pardeep Narwal is a great honor but to exceed expectations and skip out of the shadows of the league's top raider is no mean task.

Given the role of the tertiary raider in the side behind Pardeep Narwal and Deepak Narwal, Manjeet looked solid all through the season as he used his height as his primary calling card and caused quite a furor with his running hand touches.

As the season progressed, Manjeet grew in confidence and slowly took up the mantle of the second raider behind Pardeep Narwal, which gave the youngster more chances to excel as he picked up his first 'Super-10' against the Bengaluru Bulls.

However, in addition to his raiding talent, Manjeet also proved his worth as a very capable defender with his vicious ankle holds bringing down the best of raiders.

The young all-rounder was in fine form throughout as he finished with 87 raid points and 15 tackle points from 22 matches at an average of 4.63 points per game.

#3 Naveen - Haryana Steelers

Naveen Kumar outshined ever Monu Goyat and Kandola at times

At the start of the season, the whispers surrounding the Haryana Steelers team was all about the form of skipper Monu Goyat. However, with the Steelers skipper failing to live up to potential, Vikas Kandola was thrust into the role of the lead raider.

However, the story of the season for Haryana was the emergence of young Naveen, who was only making his debut but had made a name for his ability to deliver in crunch situations.

Having missed out from the opening encounter, Naveen was drafted into the starting seven for the game against Gujarat, when he camouflaged Kandola's poor show to pick up six points, including a tackle point as well.

Yet, Naveen took the league by storm a few games later as he picked up a whopping 15 raid points and two tackle points to finish with 17 points against the Jaipur Pink Panthers that cemented his place in the starting seven.

Through the season, Naveen played his role to perfection as a tertiary raider and a supporting defender as he finished the season with 88 raid points and 14 tackle points from 21 games.

#2 Naveen Kumar - Dabang Delhi K.C

Naveen Kumar was the top raider for Delhi

Gifted with a unique ability to travel the court at a lively pace and unsettle the best of defense units in the league, Naveen Kumar's proficiency on the mat was one of the key reasons for Delhi's qualification into the knockout stages.

Only 18 years of age, Naveen was pitted against the most formidable defenders and started slowly with just 15 points from three games but soon picked up the pace as he notched up two 'Super-10s' in a row and added two more, one against the Pink Panthers and the other against the defending champions Patna Pirates.

His 15-point effort against the Pirates was the youngster's best show all through the season as Kumar took over the mantle of the lead raider from Chandran Ranjit, who was forced to settle as the second-best raider on most occasions, highlighting Kumar's dominating show on the mat.

From 22 matches, Naveen Kumar finished with 172 raid points at an average of 7.81 raid points per game including eight 'Super-10s' and with a 'Super-10' in the finals, capped off a top debut season in style.

#1 Siddharth Sirish Desai - U Mumba

The lanky raider from Maharashtra saw a lot of demand from a number of franchises in the auctions and when he was finally snapped up by U Mumba for a sum of ₹36 lakh, the U Mumba management knew that there was something special in store.

Gifted with a tall frame and quick reflexes, Desai set the stage on fire with his very first game as he had the likes of Sandeep Narwal and Girish Ernak diving at his ankles in vain as Desai galloped away with 15 raid points against Pune.

A 13-point show against Jaipur was soon followed by four 'Super-10s' in a row as Desai blazed through the opposition defense in commanding style. With 200 raid points in only his 19th match of the season, Desai earned the distinction of becoming the fastest raider to breach the landmark.

The U Mumba raider produced his best effort against Delhi when he notched up 19 raid points and with consistent shows right through the season, earned showers of praise from pundits and fans alike.

With 218 raid points from 21 matches, Desai finished with an average of 10.38 points per game and as the third-best raider from the season.

Edited by Rajdeep Puri