Pro Kabaddi League 2018: Top 5 raiding performances from the Inter-Zone Challenge Week

The Inter-Zone Challenge Week's Phase I took place between 21st to 28th October, with a total of 12 matches being played. The phase was divided into 2 venues, while the first 6 matches took place in Pune at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, the remaining 6 took place at the Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna.

These matches pitted teams from Zone A against the teams from the other zone, Zone B. A lot of exciting, edge of the seat matches took place, in which some new and some established raiders left their mark.

Here's a list of the Top 5 raiding performances from the Inter-Zone Challenge Week.

#5 Naveen Kumar (11 points) - Dabang Delhi vs Bengal Warriors, Match 27

It would have been improbable to predict a Delhi win against a strong Bengal Warriors before the start of the match.

Delhi had been struggling for form, with lapses in both attack and defence, while the Warriors had been unbeaten in the tournament so far. So, the scales were heavily tipped towards a Bengal win.

But, Dabang Delhi had another thing planned as they stepped up their game to produce an all-round performance with significant contributions from attack and defence to defeat the Warriors by a dominating 9-point margin (39-30).

Leading their attack was the young Naveen Kumar, a teenager playing his debut PKL season. He justified the faith of his coaches and his captain, as he scored 11 raid points. The interesting thing was that he was never tackled by the opposition in his 22 attempted raids, giving an idea of the agility and skill that he possessed.

Scoring a Super-10 against a defense comprising the likes of Surjeet Singh, Ran Singh, and Shrikant Tewthia is a dream for many raiders, and Naveen made sure to fulfil his on the way to taking his team to a much-needed victory in the competition.

#4 Vikas Kandola (10 points) - Haryana Steelers vs Patna Pirates, Match 38

Vikas Kandola (L) led from the front to give his team a much-needed victory.

Haryana Steelers were taking on the mighty Patna Pirates who were the pre-match favourites playing at their home. The match was touted as a clash between ex-teammates Pardeep Narwal and Monu Goyat.

As the lineup was announced it was a surprise for all as Monu Goyat was not only missing from the starting 7, but also from the substitutes. The odds of Haryana winning the encounter were further lowered.

But the turn of events that followed was straight out of a Hindi-movie, where a young, inexperienced team led by a new captain, Vikas Kandola rose to the occasion with exemplary performance in all departments.

Vikas did not let the captaincy bog him down and took his game up a level with the added responsibility to score a Super-10. He scored 8 touch and 2 bonus points from his 20 attempted raids and was his team's top raider for the match.

#3 Pardeep Narwal (17 points) - Patna Pirates vs U Mumba, Match 36

Pardeep Narwal displayed his class with his 17-point effort in the match.

Since Season 4 of the PKL, it has been almost impossible to keep Pardeep Narwal out of any Top Raider list of Pro Kabaddi League.

It was the match against U Mumba, who were and are undoubtedly the strongest side in Zone A. Patna Pirates were on a high after a dominating win against the Jaipur Pink Panthers the previous night, but so were U Mumba who were coming off an astounding 21-point win against Rahul Chaudhari's Telugu Titans.

It was a set up as a match between Pardeep Narwal and Fazel Atrachali, U Mumba's captain and top defender.

And Pardeep Narwal was up to the task as he took the match by storm and scored a total of 17 raid points of his 26 attempted raids. His performance almost single-handedly tilted the match in the favour of the Pirates before the last moment heroics of Siddharth Desai and Fazel Atrachali took U Mumba to the win.

#2 Pawan Kumar Sehrawat (20 points) - Bengaluru Bulls vs Haryana Steelers, Match 31

Pawan was the VIVO Perfect Raider for his astounding 20-point raiding effort.

Bengaluru Bulls had suffered a narrow 2-point loss to the Puneri Paltan (25-27) in their last encounter. None of the Bulls' raiders, not even the prolific Pawan Kumar Sehrawat could make much of an impact in the low-scoring encounter.

In a bid to showcase his talent and show the naysayers that he wasn't a two-match wonder, Pawan was on point from the get-go.

He scored a whopping 20 raid points, for the second time in the tournament, as he made sure that his team clinched the 5-points from the match in a dominating fashion.

His raid points included 19 touch and a bonus point and were scored off just 20 attempted raids. The best part of Pawan's raiding was that he was tackled by the Steelers' defense on just one occasion, thus ensuring that he was available on the mat for his team's needs.

#1 Siddharth Desai (14 raid points) - U Mumba vs Patna Pirates, Match 36

Siddharth Desai showed great composure to get his team across in an edge-of-the-seat thriller.

It was undoubtedly the closest, edge-of-the-seat match that we have seen in quite some time in the Pro Kabaddi League. The match was truly what is defined as a roller-coaster, as each of the teams had the upper hand at different points in the match.

Siddharth Desai, the breakout raiding star for U Mumba, had struggled against Patna's defence in the first half of the match and could manage just 4 raid points.

He came back into the second half of the match with a point to prove as he scored an additional 10 raid points of his 13 attempted raids, including the one touch point in his team's final raid to get into the lead in the remaining 30 seconds of the match.

Siddharth has scored more points in his other matches, but this match was special as he held onto his nerves, kept his calm and stuck to the basics to keep his team in touching distance and eventually, with his team's support, clinched the match with a single point difference (40-39).