Down memory lane: Maninder Singh led-Bengal Warriors dominate PKL Season 7

Pardeep Narwal became the only raider to score 300 raid points in two consecutive editions.

Bengal Warriors has crowned the champions of Pro Kabaddi League season 7 defeating first-time finalist Dabang Delhi KC in the finals. Maninder Singh after a long break due to an injury was back with a bang leading the side to a maiden title. The zonal format which was followed in seasons 5 and 6 was removed and all teams had to play each other twice with the number of matches remaining the same (22). Three raiders dominated the league scoring 300 plus raid points (Pawan Sehrawat, Pardeep Narwal, and Naveen Kumar) and the fourth-best raider scored 217 raid points. 

Until season 7, Pardeep Narwal was the lone raider to cross the 300 raid points mark barrier and the “dubki king” also became the lone raider to cross the 300 mark twice in PKL. Naveen Kumar in his second season impressed many experts playing alongside experienced Chandran Ranjith. Pawan Sehrawat continued from where he left off in season 6 scoring 346 points. Reigning champions Bengaluru Bulls lost to finalists Dabang Delhi KC in the semifinals.

Auctions

Season 7 witnessed an equal number of foreign participation as in season 6 (26 players). In season 6 Telugu Titans were the only franchise to buy three foreigners but in season 7 it was  Patna Pirates and U Mumba making use of the foreign quotas buying three players each. Mohammed Nabibaksh allrounder from Iran played an important role in the finals along with Prapanjan in the absence of injured star raider Maninder Singh guiding the team to the title. Fazel Athrachali for the third consecutive time featured in the top five tackle points charts, the only foreigner to do so.

Unlike season 6, only two players this season went above the one-crore mark (Nitin Tomar and Siddarth Desai). In season 6 six players reached the magical figures of one crore which went down drastically in PKL season 7. Siddharth Desai after a staggering performance in his debut season was sold to Telugu Titans for 1.45 crore and Nitin Tomar for 1.20 crore to Puneri Paltan.

Top Raiders

Pawan Sehrawat

Matches - 24 | raid Points - 346

Pawan Sehrawat for the second consecutive season topped the raid points chart but couldn't guide Bengaluru Bulls to the PKL 7 title. The lead raider did not receive much support from Rohit Kumar and other raiders having to look after the raiding department single-handedly. Bengaluru Bulls finished season 7 in the top 4 losing in the semifinals.

Pardeep Narwal

Matches - 22 | Raid Points - 302

Pardeep Narwal became the only raider to score 300 raid points twice in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League. Patna Pirates did not have a balanced squad which lacked consistency in both raiding and defence. Apart from Pardeep none of the other players put up match-winning performances.

Naveen Kumar

Matches - 23 | Raid Points - 301

Naveen Kumar often referred to as Naveen “Express” featured in the top five raiders list after an impressive debut season. Naveen is an aggressive raider keeping the defenders on their toes whenever he raids. His main weapons were bonus points and running hand touch and with his high speed, defenders often get caught backtracking.

Top Defenders

Fazel Athrachali

Matches - 24 | Tackle Points - 82

The left-corner defender topped the tackle points table for the first time after featuring in the top five list in the previous two seasons. Fazel represented U Mumba scoring 82 tackle points with the most successful tackles (77).

Sumit 

Matches - 23 | Tackle Points - 77

UP Yodhha had one of the deadliest defences with two defenders featuring in the top three tackle points list. Sumit the right-corner defender in his maiden season scored 77 tackle points and combined with Nitesh Kumar (who holds the record for breaching the 100 tackle points mark).

Nitesh Kumar 

Matches - 23 | Tackle Points - 75

Nitesh Kumar had the support of Sumit this season and scored 75 tackle points in 23 matches. The defence played an important role in guiding UP Yoddha to a third consecutive playoff spot.

Super 10s

1. Naveen Kumar - 22

2. Pawan Sehrawat - 18

3. Pardeep Narwal - 15

High 5s

1. Surjeet Singh - 7

2. Sumit - 7

3. Baldev Singh - 6