How Support raiders have shined in PKL Season 8

'Wherever you go, whatever you do, I’ll always be there to support you.’

This is the kind of sketch the support raiders have painted so far in the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League Season 8. The 8th edition of the PKL gave birth to new stars who have the potential to perform much better in the following seasons. Every team is always dependent on a particular player for their victories. For example, Bengaluru Bulls was hung upon Pawan Sehrawat whereas Dabang Delhi prayed for Naveen’s success. But support raiders such as Bharat, Vijay Malik have gained the team’s trust with their outstanding performance. In this article, we shall shed light on some of the support raiders who have contributed consistently to their team’s victories.

Just like films have superstars that are supported by other actors, support raiders are players who are looked upon when the main raiders are performing poorly. Coaches expect them to steal the light of the game and shine brightly. This has been the case for Bharat and C. Ranjit of Bengaluru Bulls. Pawan Sherawat who has been the star kid for the Bulls has not performed in some of the matches. This gave the above two raiders to show what they’re made of. Both these raiders ended the league stage by scoring some of the most crucial points for their teams with their outstanding performance. Dabang Delhi who was hell-bent on Naveen’s performance brought out some of the emerging players in his absence. Ashu Malik, Neeraj Narwal, and Vijay Malik each having a different raid style, helped the team to win some of the important matches.

U.P Yodha's Pardeep Narwal, a player who was eyed upon the most throughout the season did not perform until the last playoffs. That is when their support raider Surender Gill came into action. By far, Gill has had the best season of his life. He managed to score 188 points in 22 matches with a beautiful average of 8.55 per match. Some consider Surrender to be the apple of the eye for the Yodhas but Pardeep’s performance in the last match indicated his return. Puneri Paltan who is considered as a team of youngsters introduced Aslam as their main raider and Mohit as their support. But as the season moved forward, both of them coined themselves as main raiders and guided their team to the playoffs. Lastly, Haryana Steelers had high hopes from Vikas Kandola, their star raider but Meetu and Rohit swooped in as his support and helped the team fight ferociously till the last minute.

These are some of the examples of support who have shined bright as stars in the PKL season 8. As we’ve all witnessed this season to be for the emerging players, it won’t be hard to imagine the next season with these supports to become the main raiders of the team.