Indian kabaddi player Siddharth Desai has warned that the upcoming Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) will witness a new version of himself whenever the season starts.  

"Everyone will see a new Siddharth in Season 8," he asserted in an interview with Hindustan Times.

The 29-year-old raider went on to reveal that he has been acquiring and mastering new skills ahead of PKL Season 8. Even though the upcoming season has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and there has been no clarity as to when it will commence, Siddharth has been keeping himself fit.

“I was working out at home and carrying out body-weight training with the children of my village. My brother (Suraj) and I were practising together,�?the Telugu Titans star raider said.

Siddharth also said that he will once again depend on his success mantra of ‘Dream, Believe, Achieve�?and try to protect his mental and physical health in his bid for another solid season with Telugu Titans.

Having made his debut in the PKL Season 6 with U Mumba, Desai had taken the league by storm as he became the first raider to amass 200 points in their first season. He ended Season 6 with 221 points, only behind Pawan Kumar Sehrawat from Bengaluru Bulls and Pardeep Narwal of Patna Pirates.

Following his impressive debut season, Desai became the most expensive player in Season 7 as Telugu Titans secured his services for a staggering �?.45 Crore. The star raider then had another good campaign with the Titans, scoring 200 points.

However, amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it has been a tough two years for kabaddi in India. PKL Season 8 was postponed last year due to rising coronavirus cases in the country and in the interview, Siddharth stressed the need for patience to succeed in kabaddi.

“The journey has been long and tough. I have achieved recognition because of my hard work, patience, and lots of practice. In kabaddi we have to keep evolving and being relevant, from skills to techniques to fitness,�?he said.

Siddharth also spoke about learning from the likes of Rishank Devadiga, Girish Ernak, and Nitin Madane while playing for Maharashtra in the senior nationals. His association with Air India helped him improve as well after he got the opportunity to play with stars like Rahul Chaudhari, Ajay Thakur, and Deepak Niwas Hooda.

Featured photo: Pro Kabaddi

Earlier, we looked at the list of the Pro Kabaddi league’s most efficient defenders in Season 7 and it featured some of the sport’s best.

Likewise, below we look at the raiders, who were not only incredibly prolific in Season 7, but also thoroughly efficient on the mat.

Here are the top five most efficient raiders in Pro Kabaddi Season 7:

(NOTE: This list only features raiders with over 100 raid points in Season 7 of the Pro Kabaddi League)

Pawan Sehrawat - Bengaluru Bulls

The league’s leading raid point scorer was also its most efficient.

Breaking the record in front of the Record-Breaker himself - Pawan Sehrawat's 35th raid point in #HARvBLR is bound to go down in the history of the game!

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The Bengaluru Bulls superstar scored 346 raid points in just 461 raid attempts, giving him an incredible strike rate of 75.05. Sehrawat was the only raider or defender in the league with a strike rate of over 70 in Pro Kabaddi Season 7.

Despite raiding so heavily, Sehrawat still had the highest percentage of successful raids, with 56.83 among players with over 100 raid points in Season 7.

Pardeep Narwal �?Patna Pirates

Pro Kabaddi’s G.O.A.T., Pardeep Narwal was the second most efficient raider in Pro Kabaddi Season 7.

For the first time since Season 3, Pardeep failed to win an individual award at the end of the campaign, as Sehrawat beat him to the Best Raider award while Dabang Delhi K.C.’s Naveen Kumar won the league’s Most Valuable Player award.

Pardeep Narwal is our raider of the match, in other news, sky is still blue!

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Still, Pardeep embarked on another historic campaign. The raider became the first man in Pro Kabaddi history to record multiple campaigns with over 300 raid points. His 302 came in 453 raid attempts, giving him a strike rate of 66.66 percent.

It wasn’t the easiest campaign for Pardeep, however, as the raider was tackled an incredible 109 times, trailing only Sehrawat in that category, who was tackled six more times than Pardeep in more raid attempts. The Patna Pirates ace had the lowest percentage of successful raids among the top 5 raid point scorers of Season 7, with only 51.66.

What helped his strike rate was his league-leading 15 Super Tackles, the second-most by a player in a single Pro Kabaddi campaign, behind Pardeep’s own record of 18 in Season 5.

Siddharth Desai �?Telugu Titans

After a rough start to his campaign in Season 7, Telugu Titans�?Siddharth Desai slowly got into his groove and finished the campaign in strong fashion, ending it with 217 raid points.

Rise, Baahubali!
Siddharth Desai showed why @Telugu_Titans shelled out the big bucks for him this season with a show-stealing performance to help his side pick up their first win of the season!

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Desai took 331 raid attempts to score his 217 raid points, giving him a strike rate of 65.55. Desai also boasted of a raid success rate of 53.47, which ranked third in the league among players with 100 raid points, ahead of the likes of Naveen Kumar and Pardeep Narwal.

The Telugu Titans skipper also had the fourth-most multi-point raids in Season 7 with 40, behind Sehrawat (84), Pardeep (68) and Naveen (50).

Maninder Singh �?Bengal Warriors

Despite missing the playoffs, it’s hard to overlook Maninder Singh’s contribution for the Bengal Warriors in Season 7.

.@BengalWarriors skipper Maninder Singh has a habit of pulling off outrageous raids, and the #Mumboys had no answer to this one!

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Captain Mani led the team with 205 raid points and it took him just 318 raid attempts to score them, giving him a raid strike rate of 64.46. With a raid success rate of 53.77, Maninder ranked only second behind Sehrawat in that category, and his 57 failed raids were the fewest among players with over 150 raid points in Season 7.

Naveen Kumar �?Dabang Delhi K.C.

League MVP Naveen Kumar finished the campaign with 301 raid points, which took him to a league-high 472 raid attempts, giving him a raid strike rate of 63.77.

A 10th Super 10 for @DabangDelhiKC's #10 Naveen Kumar saw them steal a win from the Panthers in the very end! What a season he’s having!

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Naveen’s raid success rate of 53.18 was the fourth-best among players with over 150 raid points. However, his 70 failed raids were the second-fewest among players with over 200 raid points.

Feature image courtesy: ProKabaddi.com

Tall, strong, agile, and intimidating, raider Siddharth Desai has been a force to be reckoned with from his very first Pro Kabaddi appearance during Season 6, in the Maharashtra Derby against Puneri Paltan.

In his rookie year, Desai started just 20 matches but still managed to score 221 points for U Mumba, setting a new record for most points by a rookie in the Pro Kabaddi league. His bullish strength and a knack for powering his way through tackles earned him the nickname, the ‘Baahubali�? which translates to ‘the one with strong arms�?

Desai endured a rough start to his second campaign in the Pro Kabaddi league with Telugu Titans, but soon found his groove and finished with 220 points in Season 7.

In just two seasons, Desai has delivered a slew of stellar performances, and we take a look at some of his best:

23 points vs. Bengaluru Bulls in Season 7

In what was one of the best duels in Pro Kabaddi history, Bengaluru Bulls�?Pawan Sehrawat and Desai were toe-to-toe in a back-and-forth raiding battle to produce one of the most thrilling contests of Season 7.

Pawan Sehrawat soared high, but Siddharth Desai stole the show in a raiding masterclass in #BLRvHYD!

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With his team trailing by eight and just over three minutes left in the contest, Desai produced a six-point raid to help his side cut the deficit to a mere two. After Sehrawat made it a three-point game with a successful raid, Desai delivered yet again, scoring another Super Raid to level the scores at 36-36. Sehrawat’s two-point raid added a couple of more points to his team’s total, but Desai responded with two consecutive successful raids to bring parity to the scoreline.

However, another two-point raid from Sehrawat sealed the deal for the Bulls as their defence sacrificed a point to Desai in the final raid of the contest to secure victory by the narrowest of margins. Desai finished the match with 22 raid points and a tackle point, his best performance in the Pro Kabaddi league.

22 points vs Jaipur Pink Panthers in Season 7

Winless in five matches, Telugu Titans were in a rut and needed an inspired performance to turn their campaign around. So, Desai delivered one.

Against Jaipur Pink Panthers, Desai torched the defence and scored 22 points in a mammoth 51-31 victory for the Telugu Titans. The Baahubali started the game with nine straight successful raids, which included two Super Raids. Desai scored his third Super Raid of the night, a joint career-high, in the second half, and was tackled just twice by the Panthers�?defence. A superb showing from Super Sid.

19 points vs. Dabang Delhi K.C. in Season 6

In his debut campaign with U Mumba, Desai had the Midas�?Touch and it was on full display in his best performance of the campaign against Dabang Delhi K.C.

The raider bludgeoned the Delhi defence for 19 raid points in just 10 successful raid attempts in U Mumba’s 41-34 victory over the team from the capital. Desai outshone fellow rookie Naveen Kumar, who finished with 12 raid points, by recording nine multi-point raids on the night, which included three Super Raids. Desai recorded a strike rate of 118.75, a stellar performance for the superstar.

18 points vs. Haryana Steelers in Season 7

With just 50 raid points in his eight matches in Season 7, a mark he reached in just four matches in his debut campaign, Desai was in the hunt for a big performance to kickstart his and Telugu Titans�?campaign, and he did just that against Haryana Steelers.

�?how raiders felt every time Siddharth Desai entered the mat, last season!

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Desai exploded for 18 raid points in 18 raid attempts against a hapless defence, to guide Telugu Titans to a 40-29 victory. The Baahubali was unplayable on the night, recording 14 successful raids and just three empty raids in his first 17 raids. Desai’s perfect day was spoilt by an unsuccessful Do-or-Die raid attempt in the penultimate minute of the contest. However, the raider had already ended the match with his incredible display.

17 points vs. Telugu Titans in Season 6

Before he joined them in Season 7, Desai delivered one of the best performances of his rookie year against Telugu Titans for U Mumba in Season 6.

The Baahubali massacred every defender in his way and scored 17 raid points in just 19 attempts, leading U Mumba to an easy 41-20 victory over the Titans. Desai picked up a point in at least 10 of his first 11 raids on the night. The raider gave away just a couple of tackle points, courtesy of a Super Raid, however, his Super Raid a minute prior negated the effect that his unsuccessful raid had on the scoreline.

Feature image courtesy: ProKabaddi.com

A price tag of INR 1.45 crore turned heads when Siddharth Desai was picked up in the Pro Kabaddi season seven auction by Telugu Titans. U Mumba’s loss was Titans�?gain as after a poor string of performances by their star raider Rahul Chaudhari in the past few seasons, Titans were left with no choice but to relieve him and procure the services of a new raider.

Desai enjoyed a record-breaking season with U Mumba in 2018 and was at the shopping list of almost all teams in the auction. However, his performances in the current season seem to have taken a hit. The 6ft 2inch raider, who holds the record of being the fastest player to reach 50 raid points, has been a little off-colour off late, with his points tally taking a dip this season.

Are the raids really successful?

The 27-year-old took the league by storm in his debut season in 2018, when he ended fourth in the list of players with most successful raids, completing 169 in just 21 matches. His tall build allows him to execute the running hand touches to near perfection, but the death touch that totally throws the defender off seems to have been missing this season.

Given his record in the previous season, he successfully completed almost eight successful raids per match, but that number has come down to seven in the ongoing season so far. If this continues and it plummets further down, it could have a long-term effect on the overall performance of his team.

Not many ‘Super�?10s

Earning 10 points in a single game is the crowning jewel for any raider. Out of 21 matches played in the previous season, Desai earned Super 10s in 12 of them. Courtesy off his brute strength and ability to catch defenders off guard due to his speed, Desai was able to put up a stellar record in 2018.

However, the story is slightly different this season as the lethal raider has racked up only three Super 10s in his first 14 matches for the Titans, averaging close to one Super 10 every five games. The drop is significant considering the Titans paid a hefty price to get his services.

Down in Do-or-die

In his 46 Do-or-die raid attempts in Season six, Desai scored 41 raid points with an incredible strike rate of 89.13. But the pressure seems to be getting to the ex-U Mumba raider as he has been ineffective for the Titans in crucial situations. Out of his first 14 matches, the 27-year-old has been able to manage just 14 do-or-die raid points, averaging a point per match.

Given the feat he achieved last season, a statistic of such nature is both worrying and unsatisfying for his team.

Just ‘average�?in Average raid points

Desai emerged as one of the driving factors for U Mumba’s success last season as his innate power to push through defences allowed him to gain maximum points for his team. Although his strength stays intact but his average raid points seem to have gone down.

He averaged 8.07 raid points in his first 14 games this season. There is a drop of almost two average points so far and if the Maharashtra-born raider is unable to replicate a similar performance like the last season, it will almost be a crime to his true potential.

Feature image courtesy: Star Sports & PKL

The Bengaluru leg of Pro Kabaddi 2019 will fondly be remembered for Tamil Thalaivas�?star raider Rahul Chaudhari who became only the second man to cross the 900 total points milestone after Pardeep Narwal.

The Sree Kanteerava Stadium witnessed some fierce competitions, but the spotlight in the week was once again on the free-spirited raiders. Here we bring you the top three raiders who garnered maximum points for their teams.  

Pawan Sehrawat

Bengaluru Bulls �?59 raid points

The most prolific raider from the Bengaluru leg, Pawan Sehrawat led his team to a thrilling victory against the Patna Pirates. It was a battle of wits between Sehrawat and Patna’s Pardeep Narwal, as the former outperformed the ‘Dubki King�?by earning 17 raid points.

Witnessing him in full swing during the Bengaluru leg was identical to the saying: ’Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee�? He recorded a mammoth 59 raid points, leading the Bengaluru Bulls to victory on three separate occasions out of four. He also scored three Super 10s in the home leg for his team

Siddharth Desai

Telugu Titans - 31 raid points

Siddharth Desai came to the rescue for Telugu Titans in both their outings. After missing his Super 10 by just a sole point against Tamil Thaliavas, Desai was unstoppable in their second encounter against the home side, Bengaluru Bulls. Although he has an experience of just one season in his bag, the Titans raider has encapsulated the imaginations of many with his swift movement on the mat.

His showdown with Sehrawat in the encounter against Bengaluru was a delightful sight for many Kabaddi fan who wanted to witness a palpable contest. Unfortunately, Titans lost the encounter, but Desai was hailed for his stupendous performance. He ended up with 31 raid points from the Bengaluru leg.

Pardeep Narwal

Patna Pirates - 28 raid points

The ‘Dubki King�?has added another feather to his hat as he notched up the 50^th Super 10 of his career in the league. The feat turned even more special as the Patna Pirates�?beloved raider achieved this milestone against the home team, Bengaluru Bulls. Pardeep was in red-hot form against UP Yoddhas as he racked up 14 raid points in the match but despite his best efforts, Patna fell short.

Pardeep has been the driving force, leading the attack single-handedly for his team. Except for his solo performances, Patna have endured a below-par season so far.      

Feature image courtesy: Star Sports & PKL