Pro Kabaddi 2021 | Upcoming players to watch out for in PKL 8
The Pro Kabaddi League season 8 is all set to commence on December 22, in Bengaluru, with all teams limbering up for the challenge. The fresh season will be a great opportunity for debutants as well as the unestablished players to make a mark for themselves and their teams, in the league.
SportCafe takes a look at the little-known players who could make it big this year.
Rathan K (Gujarat Giants)
Although this would be Rathan's first season in the PKL, he has been a part of the Karnataka team in the national circuit, for some time now. In the 68th Senior National Men’s Kabaddi Championship, he had 55 raiding points to his name, one behind Pawan Sehrawat. Rathan is from a new breed of raiders, who don't believe in hand touches only but relies a lot on jumping over the opponents, in order to score. With the Giants not going in with any experienced raider in their ranks, Rathan might just emerge as their main man.
Galla Raju Reddy (Telugu Titans)
Raju rose to prominence during the Khelo India Youth Games 2020, and later Telangana Premier Kabaddi League, where he went on to score 130 raid points, and also won the MVP award. The youngster has it in him to become the first local star from the team, which has failed to impress in the last few seasons. He won't be the first choice raider in a team that has the likes of Rohit Kumar and Siddarth Desai, but could be used as a surprise raider.
Mohammadreza Shadloui Chianeh (Patna Pirates)
Iran is soon becoming to PKL, what nations like South Africa, Australia and England are to IPL. The little-known talents from these countries are bagged at the auctions, which later become households name. Chianeh, an all-rounder of repute from Iran was bagged by Patna for 31L, which goes on to show, that the team knows his worth. A specialist left corner, he was part of the national team during the 2018 Kabaddi Masters and won gold at the 2019 Junior Kabaddi World Championship as well. He could form a great partnership with Neeraj Kumar.