The Season 8 of Pro Kabaddi unveiled some of the brightest stars on the mat who stole the limelight with their breakthrough effort. While some managed to play a pivotal role in their team’s successful run, others managed to carve a niche for themselves with consistent performances throughout the tournament.
On that note, we take a look at some of the best debutants of Pro Kabaddi Season 8.
Mohammadreza Chiyaneh
Left-corner defender Mohammadreza Chiyaneh had a dream debut season in the PKL with Patna Pirates. The Iranian, the most expensive foreign player at INR 31 lakhs in the PKL 8 auction, justified his price tag by racking up 89 tackle points across 24 matches. Chiyaneh scored 10 high 5s in the entire season, the most by any player in a single Pro Kabaddi edition of Pro Kabaddi.
Aslam Inamdar
Puneri Paltan’s Aslam Inamdar was one of the finds of Pro Kabaddi Season 8 this year. Initially, a part of Yuva Paltan - Puneri Paltan’s youth academy team, Aslam Inamdar made a remarkable entry in Pro Kabaddi to score 189 points across 23 matches, the most by a debutant in Pro Kabaddi Season 8.
Aslam’s best performance came against Bengal Warriors, where the all-rounder scored 17 points to help Puneri Paltan beat Bengal Warriors 39-27.
Mohit Goyat
Picked from the New Young Player (NYP) category at the PKL 8 auctions, Mohit Goyat was another star Puneri Paltan unleashed this season. The youngster racked 159 raid points across 21 matches and played a pivotal role in Pune’s raiding unit.
Mohit was one of the top players who excelled in challenging situations, as he returned with 49 points in do-or-die raids alone, the best in PKL season 8. Mohit Goyat’s consistent run for Puneri Paltan saw him bag the award for Emerging Player of the season.
Jaideep Dahiya
Defender Jaideep Dahiya was one of the few bright sparks in Haryana Steelers’ underwhelming PKL 2021-22 campaign. The corner defender ended the tournament with 66 tackle points in 22 outings with five high 5s to his name.
Jaideep’s best performance of the season came against Puneri Paltan, where he scored a whopping seven tackle points in the match to help Haryana Steelers win a crucial encounter.
Rakesh Sungroya
Rakesh Sungorya was one of the mainstays of Gujarat Giants raiding setup in Pro Kabaddi Season 8. The debutant made a promising start scoring 19 points in Gujarat’s fifth match of the season against Haryana Steelers.
Indifferent performances limited Rakesh’s time on the mat. However, the raider came back strong in the latter half of the tournament to end the season with 140 raid points from 22 outings and end the season as the best raider for Gujarat Giants.
Author: Kaustubh Potdar
Featured photo: Pro Kabaddi
