The best raiding performances in vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 7

While it was the defenders who performed exceedingly well in the first half of vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 7, the league’s best raiders found their footing as the season went along and delivered some incredible individual raiding performance over the course of the campaign. Below, we list the five best from the campaign gone by –

1. Pawan Sehrawat – 39 Raid Points vs. Haryana Steelers

With captain Rohit Kumar sidelined with injury, ‘Hi-Flyer’ Pawan Sehrawat took over the mantle of leading Bengaluru Bulls and did so by example. Against Haryana Steelers in Match 118, Sehrawat scored a vivo Pro Kabaddi record 39 raid points in 38 raid attempts, surpassing the previous mark or 34 set by ‘Record-Breaker’ Pardeep Narwal in Season 5 against the same opponents. Sehrawat scored all of his team’s raid points and, astonishingly scored only three multi-point raids throughout the contest.

2. Pardeep Narwal – 34 Raid Points vs. Bengal Warriors

With a place in the playoffs secured, Bengal Warriors opted to rest six of team’s seven starters against Patna Pirates in Match 124, but that had little effect on Patna Pirates’ Pardeep Narwal, who matched his career-high of 34 raid points in just 31 attempts in his home state, Haryana. Narwal picked up points at will through three-quarters of the match before unleashing a massive six-point raid, wiping out all but one of Bengal Warriors’ players off the mat. He then scored another three-point Super Raid in his very next attempt and proceeded to add a few more points to eventually finish with 34 raid points. The match finished 69-41 in Patna Pirates’ favour and is the highest-scoring match in vivo Pro Kabaddi history.

3. Pawan Sehrawat – 29 Raid Points vs. Bengal Warriors

Bengal Warriors were on the receiving end of another marvellous raiding performance earlier in the season, as Pawan Sehrawat scored a mammoth 29 raid points in 30 attempts in a narrow 43-42 victory for Bengaluru Bulls. Sehrawat single-handedly scored as many raid points as the entire Bengal Warriors team as he helped his side claw their way back from a 10-point deficit to win the contest. Trailing by seven with three defenders on the mat, Sehrawat managed a brilliant Super Raid that helped his side inflict an All Out and towards the end, it was his successful raid that helped Bengaluru Bulls take the lead in the contest.

4. Pardeep Narwal – 26 Raid Points vs. Tamil Thalaivas

On the night he became the first man to reach the 1000-raid point mark in vivo Pro Kabaddi, Pardeep Narwal put in a special performance against Tamil Thalaivas in Match 83 and help Patna Pirates end their six-match losing streak. Pardeep was in unstoppable mode and it took until his 14^th raid attempt for Tamil Thalaivas’ defence to finally pin the raider down. The damage, though, was already done by then as Pardeep had already picked up a Super 10 and showed no signs of slowing down against a helpless Tamil Thalaivas defence. He finished the night with 26 raid points in 25 attempts with two Super Raids, capping off a historic night with a magnificent performance.

5. Siddharth Desai – 22 Raid Points vs. Bengaluru Bulls

In what was perhaps the duel of the season, Pawan Sehrawat and ‘Baahubali’ Siddharth Desai went back-and-forth in an epic contest between Telugu Titans and Bengaluru Bulls in Match 77, which finishing 40-39 in the favour of the latter. The two raiders matched each other point-for-point, Super Raid-for-Super Raid throughout the contest as two of the league’s best raiders went toe-to-toe in a nail-bitter. With Telugu Titans trailing by seven and just under four minutes left on the clock, Desai put in a five-point raid that helped his side cut the deficit to two before scoring another Super Raid that levelled the score after Sehrawat had put his team up by three. With under two minutes left, Desai scored a touch point that gave Telugu Titans the lead, but three straight points from Sehrawat helped Bengaluru Bulls snatch the win. Desai and Sehrawat both finished the game with 22 raid points.