Kabaddi Adda

The top 5 D.O.D raiders of the PKL season 8

A look back to the leagues top 5 DOD raid specialist.

All or nothing!! a famous term associated with gambling but isn't this what our players do on the mat day in day out. They go against all odds to bring home the victory for their respective teams whatever the stakes may be.  

Raiders are usually the ones taking the most risks out on the mat and this goes to another level when they hear a hooter sound just before the start of the raid, indicating it's time for the Do or Die Raid. 

The DOD raid is enforced when the raiding team has 2 consecutive empty raids, the third one becomes the DOD raid. Players have to score a point, be it a smart touchpoint or a quick bonus, or else they go off the mat. 

This season was no different where raiders flexed their muscles ta save their teams at crunch moments and some did it better than the others. 

The Top 5 DOD Raiders for the PKL season 8 League Phase are as follows- 

 

Lets go

1.Mohit Goyat- Puneri Platan 

This season a lot of youngsters made their debut out on the mat. Some even were thrown right into the depths of the real world to fight it out. One such youngster was the Mohit Goyat who was picked up by the Puneri Paltans after having a brilliant inaugural season of K7 Haryana. he was one of the leading raiders in the u-21 tournament. 
He started his PKL 8 journey as the support raider but, his daring endeavors saw him land the lead raider role along with Aslam. He was confident while raiding which was outright evident. He had the faith of the team management to go in as the DOD raider. Which proved to be a masterstroke as he ended the league phase as the leading DOD raider with 48 points.


2. Arjun Deshwal - Jaipur Pink Panthers  

The Mr consistent of the league was not only their sole lead raider of the team but the soul Saviour of the team as well. Panther's raiders struggled to support him and hence he took the additional responsibility to go in as the DOD raider as well. There were many times when the team was down to just 3 on the mat. With a DOD raid upon their heads, he went in to save his team time and time again and came out on top with 44 DOD points in 22 games.


3.Ajinkya Panwar - Tamil Thalaivas

Some people just thrive under extreme pressure and one such person was Ajinkya from Thalaivas. he started the early season from the bench waiting to get in a look in. 

His time finally came in the 4th match of the league against Paltans, where he came off the bench to save his team from an all-out with scoring in his DOD raid and ended the game with super 10.  He ended the league with 78 raid points out of which 42 were DOD raid points. 


4. Maninder Singh - Bengal warriors 

One of the great legends that have ever graced the PKL stage is the great Maninder singh. The tall and stout Maninder Singh was a menace for every defence in the PKL this season. Not only did he score points in his regular raids, but his DOD raids conversions were pretty decent as well. He ended the campaign just one point short of his 40th DOD raid points. If you took him out of the Bengal warriors they would have ended up being the last-placed team.


5. Sachin Tanwar - Patna Pirates

Patna Pirates had lost one of the leading raiders ahead of this season in the form of Pradeep Narwal, There were doubts about the raiding strength of the Pirates at the start of the season, how will they cope after such a big loss. Up stepped Sachin Tanwar, leading the raiding trio of the pirates unit. His quick start and ability to switch with his fellow raiders came in handy. He was one of the most flexible raiders who could switch his role from lead, Support to the DOD specialist as well. He bailed out his team when the team's DOD specialist Monu was down and out. He ended the league stage as the leading raider of the pirates unit and scored the 5th highest DOD raid points 36.