Top Records in Pro Kabaddi League

1. Three Times Title Winner – Patna Pirates

While most teams have not even entered the finals of PKL, Patna Pirates have won 3 out of their 3 final encounters. Jaipur Pink Panthers, U Mumba and the defending champions Bengaluru Bulls are the other teams to have won the league in 2014, 2015 and 2018 respectively.

Patna Pirates, a well-balanced team bagged the 2016 (January) PKL Winner Title and went on to defend their titles in 2016 June and 2017. They are not just the only team to have won the league thrice but also the only team to have defend their title twice. In 2016 January, Patna Pirates defeated the then-defending champions U Mumba by a scoreline of 37-29. And in the successive seasons, they defeated Jaipur Pink Panthers (55-38) and Gujarat Fortune Giants (38-33).

2. Do or Die Raid Points and Ajay Thakur, a better love story

Ajay Thakur is an attacking player. He is a raider who loves playing under pressure. When it comes to do or die raid points, no one can stop this man.  In the course of 80 matches, he scored around 23.1% of his total raid points from do or die raid points.

In season 2, Ajay Thakur guided his team, Bengaluru Bulls to finish as runners-up with his 34 do or die raid points over a course of just 13 matches.

3. The Record Breaker – Pardeep Narwal

Pardeep Narwal, an unpredictable raider is no less than a superhuman on the mat. He is more commonly known as ‘Record Breaker’ for he keeps setting and breaking records with his magical raid points.

The latest record that he created was that he became the first player to cross 1000 raid points in the Pro Kabaddi League history. Also, in the same match, he completed his 52nd Super 10 in PKL. In season 5, the 8-pointer raid by him swept away the full team of Haryana Steelers in Eliminator 2. He was named the most valuable player in Season 4 and 5.

At the end of Season 6, he held the record for most points in a single raid (8), most points in a single season (369) and highest points in a single game (34). This player leaves the players and fans speechless with his mind-blowing tactics and skills.

4. Puneri Paltan hold Most Super Tackles in a Season

If a team is reduced to three or lesser players, tackling a raider helps them score two points (normally tackling a raider earns them one point). Being reduced to a fewer number of defenders creates a bad situation. However, it gives room for Super Tackles and extra points when executed properly.

Puneri Paltan utilized it to the utmost level managing 34 Super Tackles in Season 6. This helped them fetch 68 tackle points. This was recorded as the most super tackles in a season. Previously this record was held by Patna Pirates who set the mark of 27 Super Tackles in Season 4 and equaled the record again in Season 5.

5. U Mumba – One of the best defenses in PKL

The 2015 PKL Champions are having a mixed form in this season. However, U Mumba have always had the chance of having the best defenders in their team. And so, it is no surprise that they hold many defensive records in PKL.

Mumbai is the first team to enter three consecutive finals and they made it in the first three seasons. They were runners-up in season 1, then went on to become title winners in season 2 and were into finals again in season 3. They have set up a second-highest number of All-Outs in the tournament (Until Season 6). They have the greatest number of tackles and most tackle points record to their name closely followed by the Patna Pirates. They have a winning percentage of 63.55, top amongst the teams playing since 2014 and second-most overall.

6. Naveen Kumar and his breaking show

Naveen Kumar made his debut in PKL last season and became the first player born in 2000s to play in this league. His explosive speed and timely reflexes made him the top scorer for Delhi with 177 points. He also lead them to their maiden playoffs in the league. He also became the youngest man in PKL to finish a campaign as top scorer. Getting a Super 10 in just his fourth match, he is the youngest to achieve this feat.

In season 7, he entered the record books for the most number of consecutive Super 10 equaling the record of the record-breaker, Pradeep Narwal. He played extremely well and went on to become the fastest player to score 300 points.

7. Four-Time Finalists

Fazel Atrachali and Shabeer Bapu can also be called the lucky charms of PKL. They hold the record of representing their teams in Pro Kabaddi finals for four times.

Fazel and Shabeer represented U Mumba in Season 2 and 3. While Shabeer continued to play for U Mumba in Season 4, Fazel performed for Patna Pirates. In Season 5, Fazel was with Gujarat Fortune Giants and Shabeer played for Jaipur Pink Panthers.

8. Gujarat Fortune Giants are late but prove to be the latest

They are known as the Wall of defense. They outperformed making their mark in their inaugural season, PKL 5. They had both the covers and the corners scoring 30 plus tackle points in that season. This made them the only team to have all of its defensive units score 30 plus points in a Season.

They made their debut in 2017 and were finalists in both of their attempts in 2017 and 2018. They also have the highest winning percentage of 69.39, closely followed by U Mumba.

9. Changing Skippers, Constant Results

We already discussed the extraordinary performance of Patna Pirates. They entered the playoffs of the first five seasons. They were semi-finalists in the first two seasons and went on to be the champions in the rest.

This is the history that we know. The fact that most of us are not aware of is that all these feats have been achieved with different captains leading the team. They are the team to have the most captains in Pro Kabaddi League history.

10. Century