Who tops Khel Now’s Power Rankings after phase 3 of PKL 9?

Raiders are ruling the chart so far.

For every Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) game this season 9, our respective correspondents and editors rank their three best-performing players from the match in order. The player ranked at the top of the list is awarded five points. The player finishing second earns three points, whereas the one at the bottom (third place) is given one point.

Such points are carried forward for every player involved in the league, once he’s chosen by our team. Eventually, the total number of points that they accumulate will decide their final position on the leaderboard at the end of PKL season 9. The Khel Now Power Rankings will be published in a series of articles, as we have divided PKL 9 into equal phases of 22 games each for the same. This article includes the rankings for the second set of series (44-6) in PKL 9.

Aslam Inamdar (19)

Aslam Inamdar has slipped a few places down from the 7th spot in phase 2 to the 10th spot in phase 3. He is one of the primary raiders for Puneri Paltan, was injured and missed out few matches but immediately made an impact scoring a super 10 in his comeback match. 

Sachin Tanwar (20)

Sachin Tanwar for the first time is making it to the top 10 of the power rankings after having a slow start to the season. The star raider from Patna Pirates has scored four successive super 10s in phase 3 and has been the most improved player from the franchise. Patna Pirates are back to the top 6 with one major reason being Sachin’s return to form.

Rakesh (21)

Rakesh has slid down from the 3rd spot in phase 2 to the 9th spot in phase 3 and could add only one point to the overall tally. The raider had a few off games in phase 3 and was replaced by Partheek Dahiya who took over the primary raider’s role for Gujarat Giants. Rakesh has made a good comeback and will need to carry forward to the upcoming matches.

Surender Gill (21)

Surender Gill has not progressed up or slid down the power rankings and is constantly scoring points along with the raiding duo of Pardeep Narwal. In the last part of the phase 3, the star raider was injured and shall give a good comeback post the recovery.

Mohit Goyat (22)

The all-rounder from Puneri Paltan has been scoring points constantly in all the matches he has played and is one of the most consistent players in PKL season 9. In the absence of Aslam Inamdar for a few matches, he provided a helping hand to replace raider Akash Shinde and was ready to score points from tackles as well proving his versatility.

Narender Kandola(23)

To date, Narender is the best young find of season 9 scoring more than 100 raid points ahead of many star raiders. Overall the youngster has scored seven super 10s and has been instrumental in the five-match unbeaten streak held by Tamil Thalaivas. Taking over the primary raiding from Pawan Sehrawat is a huge task and he has done his job to perfection. He has jumped four places from the 9th to the 5th spot in phase 3.

Maninder Singh (28)

The 32-year-old experienced raider first featured in phase 1 of the power rankings but due to a few poor performances couldn't feature in phase 2. The comeback Maninder has made is exceptional scoring 15 plus raid points in the last few encounters on the trot. He has single-handedly taken Bengal Warriors to victory on a few occasions. If he continues to perform in a similar fashion then Bengal Warriors will have a chance to qualify for the playoffs.

Arjun Deshwal (29)

Arjun Deshwal has been performing constantly for the Jaipur Pink Panthers and has been the lone warrior as far as raiding is concerned. He did not feature in the starting 7 against Tamil Thalaivas due to an injury but was immediately made to substitute with the lack of depth in raiding. Jaipur has made a good return to form after a flurry of losses and Arjun needs to keep the current form going.

Bharat (35)

Bharat currently occupies the second spot in the raid points table and has the second most super 10s behind Naveen Kumar. In all the matches the raider has performed well and the youngster is eager to score more points. For the past few matches, Bharat has been getting good support from Vikash Kandola and Neeraj which has eased the pressure on the primary raider.

Naveen Kumar (35)

Naveen “Express” continues to occupy the top spot in the power rankings. The pressure in the raiding department has been reduced similarly to Bharat of Bengaluru Bulls after Ashu Malik’s scintillating performances in the past few matches. Ashu Malik has scored more points than Naveen Kumar in a few encounters and the raider after quite some time can take some pressure off him.