Top 5 raiders in Star Sports Pro Kabaddi season 2

A raider's job, first and foremost, is to gather as many points for his team as possible. It’s never easy when 7 men on the other half are aiming to tackle one player and it gets even tougher when the player is targetted for being the best raider in the team. It is clear how difficult the job is for a raider.The second season of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi witnessed plenty of raiders strut their stuff on the mat. The audience saw visually pleasing moves like the frog jump, back kick, dubki, toe touch among others by the raiders. Despite all the entertainment, what sets the best apart is their ability to amass points consistently.Here are the best 5 raiders from Star Sports Pro Kabaddi season 2:

#5 Manjeet Chhillar

Manjeet Chhillar, the captain of Bengaluru Bulls is the man you cannot keep out of any game. Be it raiding or defending, Manjeet is right on the money and leads his team from the front. The two-time Asian Games Gold medalist is a treat to watch and is no doubt a fan favourite with the crowd cheering his every raid.

Talking about his raid statistics this season, Manjeet made 60 successful raids which yielded 67 points for his team. With 3.75 raid points per match, the world's best all-rounder, who wears the number 5 jersey for the Bulls, is the 5th best raider of the tournament.

#4 Anup Kumar

Anup Kumar is Indian kabaddi's poster boy and after a stellar first season, where he was named the MVP, the U Mumba captain finds supporters cheering his name everywhere – be it home or away. The Arjuna Award winner, who led U Mumba to the title in the second season, needs no introduction.

Anup is the centre of attraction in every game and thus captures most of the footage. He did no harm to his reputation this time by returning successfully from his raids on 61 occasions, amassing 74 points. An average of 4.35 successful raid points per match sets him apart from a majority of the players in the world and helped U Mumba better their runners-up performance from last season.

#3 Ajay Thakur

The man known for his unique frog jump, leaps one position higher from season 1 and comes in at no. 3 in the top raiders category this season. This Indian international from Himachal Pradesh brings his 14-year experience into play during crunch situations in the match. The swift movement and shuffling of legs he has mastered over the years have earned him 79 raid points in 56 successful raids with 4.3 successful raid points per match this season.

He supported Manjeet Chhillar ably as the duo helped Bengaluru Bulls to the finals, where he scored 5 points from a single raid to keep his side in the fight, but despite a stellar season, Ajay was forced to see his team end on the losing side in the finals.

#2 Rahul Chaudhari

The man with number 1 on the back of his yellow jersey was the most electrifying player from the Telugu Titans squad and thus lies in number 2 spot in the list of the best raiders this season. Like season 1, Rahul Chaudhari sealed number 2 spot in the best raider category this season as well. A total of 75 successful raids and 98 raid points define the caliber of this young lad.

With 5.35 successful raid points per match, Rahul proved to be a handful to the opposition defenders each time he decided to venture in the opponent's half. He was a major part in Telugu Titans' successful season, which saw them finish 3rd and top every raid record as the team amassed 344 raid points in 265 successful raids with an average of 16.56 raid points per match, highest by any team this season.

#1 Kashiling Adake

Be alert, Kashi’s coming. That’s the ‘mantra’ the opponents follow when Kashiling Adake is out for a hunt. The 23-year-old returned to the court in the second season by scoring a bag of points in almost every match. Dabang Delhi's most prized possession, Kashi, scored a mammoth 114 raid points in a record 87 successful raids to etch his name in almost every raiding record this season.

With 6.21 being the rate of successful raids per match, Kashiling finds himself at the top of leaderboard. He also set a record for the most points in a single match when he single-handedly dragged Dabang Delhi to a 45-45 draw against Telugu Titans by scoring 24 points. Despite Delhi not qualifying for the semis, Kashiling was awarded the Best Raider of the Tournament award.

Edited by Staff Editor