PKL 2019 | Best 7 of league stage ft. Naveen Kumar, Pardeep Narwal and Sumit

10/12/2019

The tagline of PKL Season 7 was 'Isse tough kuch nahi' and the matches in this season justified that there were hardly one-sided encounters and most matches went down to the wire. So, Sportscafe brings you the best 7 of the league stage with the players who impacted their team's results the most.

Naveen Kumar, Raider, Dabang Delhi

One of the biggest reasons for Delhi’s success is this youngster. He has scored a super 10 in 20 matches out of the 21 he has played. After his last season’s performance, there was certainly many expectations from him and he has done them justice. Whether it be reducing the lead in the last second by enforcing mistakes or the aggressive approach in the starting that helped the team gain a substantial lead, he did well in every situation. He finished the league stage with a 268 raid points in 21 matches. He has not only improved his average but his successful raid percentage as well. Also, he has the best not out percentage which is 85.44% amongst any other player in this season.

Pawan Sehrawat, Raider, Bengaluru Bulls

The most successful raider in the league in terms of points scored Pawan Sehrawat finished the league stage with 308 raid points in 22 matches. He not only broke the most points in a single match record of Pardeep Narwal while he was in the stands but also bettered all his previous performances. He has an average of 14 points which in itself says a lot about how Pawan approached the season. He didn’t receive much support for the other raiders in his team except in one or two matches from Rohit Kumar. After Rohit was removed from the starting seven he took the additional responsibility of being the captain as well. Though he did also experienced his lowest performance in this season in which he was able to score only three points in a match, he bounced back quickly and didn’t let that affect him.

Pardeep Narwal, Raider, Patna Pirates

Even though Pardeep started this season with a super 10 he got ousted six times in that match and his team ended up losing the match. In the next two matches, he failed to score many but despite that, his team won. Pardeep slowly got back to form but his team kept losing. They suffered a three-match losing streak twice and also a seven-match losing streak. In all those matches he was the only consistent player of the team. He finished the league stage with 302 points in 22 matches with an average of 13.72 points every match. He also bettered his own highest score in a single match which was previously of 34 points but is now 36 points. He has played this season like his previous ones but his team failed to support him.

Mahender Singh, Left Cover, Bengaluru Bulls

Though Bengaluru Bulls defence has been subjected to numerous speculations, Mahender did well in most matches where he got to play throughout. He played 19 matches in which he scored 55 tackle points and became the most successful defender of his team. Though he wasn’t able to better his previous season’s performance, he was the saving grace for his team. He did especially well in super tackle situation, in this season alone he executed eight super tackle which makes his ability as a defender quite evident.

Surjeet Singh, Right Cover, Puneri Paltan

Placed fifth on the most tackle points leaderboard Surjeet Singh did well for his team as a senior defender. He scored an overall of 63 points in 21 matches. Though it wasn’t his best season, it was certainly better than last season. His tackle strike last season was 41.86% whereas in this season it is 51.21%. Apart from the strike rate, he did the most number of Super Tackles as compared to his record of previous seasons which is seven tackles. He was the best defender for his team and despite them not being able to qualify for the playoffs his contribution couldn’t be ignored.

Sumit, Left Corner, UP Yoddha

Though there are defenders who play left corner position and have more points than him but it was Sumit whose performance impacted his team the most. Him, along with his skipper Nitesh at the other corner, were a nightmare for the raiders. He has a tackle strike rate of 54.54% and that is not an easy feat to achieve especially in his first season. He didn’t play like this was his first season, he was astute in his basics and despite some of the shortcomings, he continuously worked on it and so he emerged as the better player.

Nitesh Kumar, Right Corner, UP Yoddha

Nitesh Kumar is just behind his teammate on the fourth position in the most tackle points leaderboard. He despite having a bad start to the season emerged as one of the most successful defenders of the season. Although he wasn’t able to better his last season’s records, his performance was a major part in UP Yoddha qualifying for the playoffs. In the last five matches, Nitesh hasn’t had a match in which he scored less than four tackle points. He has led the team well too after a shaky start and now, after defeating defending champions in their last match, they are ready to play them again in the eliminator as well.