Rahul Chaudhari vs Pardeep Narwal: Comparing two heavyweights using numbers

Both the raiders have been crucial figures for their PKL teams and the Indian national team over the years.

Pardeep Narwal and Rahul Chaudhari are considered to be record breakers in Pro Kabaddi League with the latter creating records and the former breaking those records. Rahul Chaudhari has been part of the PKL since the inaugural season while Pardeep Narwal made his debut in season 2 playing for Bengaluru Bulls but made his presence felt only in season 3 shifting his base to Patna Pirates. 

Under Ram Mehar Singh and Sanjeev Baliyan Patna has won three hat-trick titles and is the only team to win the most titles. In season 3 Pardeep Narwal was under the captainship of Manpreet Singh and from there on there was no looking backwards for the athlete. 

Rahul Chaudhari started performing in season one and it was through his performances many started to follow the player and the league. Pardeep Narwal on the KhelNow youtube channel said that “I used to watch season 1 on TV and wanted to one day play the PKL and like many, I also liked Rahul Chaudhari’s performance and wanted to one day perform like him.” Rahul Chaudhari was referred to as a “showman” with his good physique and was instrumental in Telugu Titans reaching the finals in the initial seasons.

Stats in PKL

	Pardeep Narwal	Rahul Chaudhari
Matches	153	150
Total Points	1577	1100
Raid Points per match	10.25	6.93
Total Raids	2639	2268
Successful Raid per cent	45	38
Super 10s	79	42
Raid Points	1568	1039
Tackle Points	9	63
Super Raids	73	42

Looking at the table above clearly, Pardeep Narwal has outnumbered Rahul Chaudhari in the majority of the column. But Until seasons 5 and 6 Rahul Chaudhari was at his peak and when he left Telugu Titans his form started to dip. If we compare season-by-season stats then -

Season 3

Pardeep Narwal Rahul Chaudhari

Matches - 16 Matches - 13

Total Points - 121 Total Points - 99

Season 4

Matches -16 Matches - 16

Total Points - 133 Total Points - 150

Season 5

Matches - 26 Matches - 22

Total Points - 369 Total Points - 193

Season 6

Matches - 21 Matches - 21

Total Points - 233 Total Points - 166

What do the numbers say?

When we compare the stats of both players when both were at their peak, Rahul Chaudhari has outcrossed Pardeep Narwal only once in season 4 apart from which all the other seasons were dominated by the "Dubki" king. In season 1 Rahul scored 161 points at an average of 10.79 points per match and was one of the best raiders along with Maninder Singh and Anup Kumar.

When we compare the number of titles won by each player, Pardeep Narwal has won three titles whereas Rahul Chaudhari won his title in the recently concluded season (9) with Jaipur Pink Panthers. Pardeep Narwal was able to get back to his original form after a poor season with UP Yoddhas but Rahul Chaudhari's form has declined considerably since season 7 and in season 9 too the raider could score only 73 points in 19 matches. Before the PKL, Rahul was instrumental in UP winning the National Games but couldn't replicate the same form in the Pro Kabaddi League.

Pardeep Narwal is most likely to be retained by UP Yoddhas as said by the player himself whereas Rahul Chaudhari will need to perform for his state at the Senior Nationals and stay fit.

Rahul Chaudhari - The first player to score 500,700, and 800 raid points in PKL

Pardeep Narwal - The first player to score 1400 points in PKL

National Team

Rahul Chaudhari has represented India on several occasions and was part of the World Cup winning team in 2016 and the 2016 South East Asian Games winning team as well.

Pradeep Narwal along with Ajay Thakur played a crucial role in India winning the 2016 World Cup with PArdeep Narwal scoring 47 raid points (top 5) raiders list. He was also part of the 2018 Asian Games team and will most likely be part of the upcoming 2023 Asian Games team as well.