Down memory lane: Looking back at PKL Season 2

U Mumba were crowned as the champions of the Pro Kabaddi League after reaching the finals for the second consecutive time.

After the successful completion of the inaugural season in 2014 the league gained good popularity among the audience. Many kabaddi players got huge recognition for the very first time in their careers after playing in the Pro Kabaddi League. The matches for the first time were broadcasted in four different regional languages (Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and Kannada along with English). U Mumba reached the finals for the second consecutive team and unlike the previous season, they breached the final hurdle becoming the champions of PKL season 2. 

There was a major boost for the foreign players as Jang Kung Lee and Meraj Sheikh were the captains of the Bengal Warriors and Telugu Titans. This was the first time that a foreign player was made the captain of a franchise. Jang Kung Lee has been a proven performer for the South Korean team. And he was instrumental in South Korea’s win against India at the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup held in India. Meraj Sheikh on the other hand turned out to be a star all-rounder for Telugu Titans guiding them to the playoffs for the first time finishing in the second spot in the league stage.

Also comparing the performance of all the nine seasons, season 2 has been the most successful season for Telugu Titans in terms of win percentage (65.63).

Auctions

Hadi Ostorok was the highest-paid foreign player in season 2 and was sold at 21.5 lakhs which is 14 times his base price (1.5 lakhs) to Telugu Titans. Ostorok’s teammate Meraj Sheikh too was sold too sold to Telugu Titans at 20 lakhs. Their auction strategy paid them dividends as they reached the playoffs finishing in the second spot after the end of the league stage.

Top Raiders

Kashiling Adake

Matches - 14 | Raid Points - 114

Kashiling Adake represented Dabang Delhi KC in season 2. Dabang Delhi did not have a good start to the PKL not qualifying for the playoffs in the first two seasons.

Rahul Chaudhari

Matches - 14 | Raid Points - 98

For the second consecutive time, Rahul Chaudhari finished in the second spot in the raid points table. In the first season, Rahul scored close to 150 points but in season two couldn't breach the 100 raid points mark which was a dip in his performance.

Ajay Thakur

Matches - 13 | Raid Points - 79

Ajay Thakur finished third in the raid points table and represented Bengaluru Bulls and was under the guidance of Randhir Singh Sehrawat. In season 2, only one raider breached the 100 raid points mark whereas the raiders in the first season were getting to the 150 raid points mark.

Top Defenders

Ravinder Pahal

Matches - 14 | Tackle Points - 60

Dabang Delhi KC had both raider and defender at the top of their respective tables but still, the team couldn't get to the playoffs lacking team combination.

Sandeep Kandola

Matches - 16 | Tackle Points - 59

Sandeep Kandola represented Telugu Titans and had a standout season scoring 59 tackle points. After this season he again played in the PKL only after season 7.

Dharamraj Cheralathan

Matches - 15 | Tackle Points - 42

Cheralathan for the second consecutive time featured in the top 3 positions in the tackles points table. He carried a lot of experience before playing in the PKL helping him tackle at crucial junctures of a match.

Super 10s

Rahul Chaudhari - 5

Kashiling Adake - 3

Rajesh Narwal - 2

High 5s

Sandeep Kandola - 6

Ravinder Pahal - 5

Somvir Shekhar - 4

Total Points

Kashiling Adake - 117

Manjeet Chillar - 107

Rahul Chaudhari - 107

Manjeet Chillar was one of the best all-rounders in season 2 scoring 60 plus raid points and 40 plus tackle points. None of the other all-rounders scored an almost equal number of points in both the raiding and defensive section and also held additional responsibility being the captain of Bengaluru Bulls.