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Pro Kabaddi League action resumes for the sixth edition in about two weeks time as the twelve franchises in contention will battle it out on the mat over three months for a chance to win the coveted championship.
Puneri Paltan has been a franchise who have rediscovered themselves after starting out in a poor fashion in the initial seasons of the Pro Kabaddi League. In the past three seasons, they have done well and turned into one of the most consistently better-performing sides in the PKL.
There have been many players over the years who have played their part in their growth in the league and we take a look at five of the best raiders who have featured for the Puneri Paltan franchise over the past five seasons.
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#5 Nitin Tomar
Nitin Tomar has slowly become one of the most sought-after players in the Pro Kabaddi League and his price tags in the past two PKL auctions are a testament to this fact. He was signed by the UP Yoddha for a price of 93 Lakhs a year ago. In this season's auction held earlier this year, Tomar was signed by the Puneri Paltan for a mammoth 115 Lakhs making him one of the crorepatis in the PKL.
Tomar played earlier for the Puneri Paltan in the season 4 of the PKL when under the tutelage of veteran Manjeet Chillar, he found his footing in the league after his debut season at the Bengal Warriors franchise. Tomar played off the bench but contributed well with 34 points in twelve matches and got crucial points in pressure situations for the Paltan.
#4 Manjeet Chillar
Manjeet Chillar is one of the best all-rounders in the Kabaddi world today and has been a consistent performer for the different franchises he's played over the five seasons. Even though he is a primarily a defensive all-rounder, his performance in the PKL Season 3 for the Puneri Paltan on the raiding front warrants him a place in this list.
Manjeet, along with Ajay Thakur were the mainstays of the Puneri Paltan in Season 3 as he scored 106 points (45 raid points) during the season proving to be a stellar raider as they marched on to the playoffs. Chillar played another season for the Puneri Paltan as they narrowly missed out on the playoffs spot. He has been signed by the Tamil Thalaivas for the upcoming season and will team up with former teammate Ajay Thakur in Chennai.
#3 Ajay Thakur
Ajay Thakur, the captain of the Indian Kabaddi team has become one of the most well-known faces in the Kabaddi circuit after his tremendous performances for the national side as well as the PKL franchises he has been a part of.
Thakur played for the Bengaluru Bulls in the first season of the PKL and scored a brilliant 122 raid points in 15 matches finishing in the top five raiders of the tournament. He has been consistently one of the leading raid points scorers in the PKL.
After two seasons with the Bulls, Thakur moved on to the Puneri Paltan where he took charge of the raiding unit under captain Manjeet Chillar.
Over two seasons, Thakur scored 120 raid points for the Puneri Paltan with many critical performances which included a lot of do or die raid points cementing himself as one of the go-to raiders in the league in dire situations.
Thakur will play for the Tamil Thalaivas after being retained by the franchise owing to his superb 222-points performance last season.
#2 Wazir Singh
Wazir Singh was the first bonafide star of the Puneri Paltan franchise after shining in the initial seasons of the league for the franchise. Singh was signed in the inaugural auction for a price of 10.60 Lakhs and put on a strong performance justifying his price back then.
Singh scored 111 points for the Puneri Paltan and was the bright spot in a dark season for the franchise as they finished bottom of the league.
His performance included 2 Super Raids and 5 Super 10s with a healthy 47.48% successful raid percentage and averaged 8.67 points per match, the third best in the league. The following season saw him rack up 67 points in 12 matches again emerging the top scoring raider for the Paltan.
Singh had his seasons curtailed for the next two seasons due to injury but returned with a bang for Haryana Steelers in Season 5. He scored 120 raid points in 21 matches for the franchises as they made the playoffs in their debut season.
#1 Deepak Niwas Hooda
Deepak Niwas Hooda is considered to be one of the fittest all-around players on the Pro Kabaddi League circuit and one of the finest raiding all-rounders in the league.
He began his PKL career with the Telugu Titans in Season 1 and formed a strong partnership with Rahul Chaudhari in the raiding department.
His 96-points performance in the second season was an important contribution for their third position finish.
Hooda moved on to the Puneri Paltan for the third season and flourished under the leadership of Manjeet Chillar as he improved his raiding skills even further.
Over his three seasons with the franchise, Hooda consistently finished in the top 10 raiders of the league with scores of 69 (Season 3), 126 (Season 4) and 172 (Season 5).
He was the captain of the Puneri Paltan franchise for the fifth season as they made the playoff stages. Hooda has been signed by the Jaipur Pink Panthers for a huge sum of 1.15 Crores this season.
