Pro Kabaddi preview: PKL 2019's top raider Naveen Kumar in action today

Naveen Kumar had 172 raid points last season while he has already scored 174 with 8 matches still to go in the league stage of PKL 2019

In Match 91 of Pro Kabaddi 2019, table toppers Dabang Delhi will lock horns with Gujarat Fortunegiants at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune on Sunday. Gujarat Fortunegiants have dominated the head to head against Delhi, winning five of the seven matches played between two teams. However, Delhi have been in brilliant form and it will be interesting to see whether Fortunegiants continue their dominance against Delhi or not. Dabang Delhi have lost only one match in their previous 10 encounters while Gujarat managed to win only one match in their previous five matches.

Check Pro Kabaddi points table and schedule here
 
Naveen Kumar continue dominate in Pro Kabaddi 2019

Naveen has already bettered his debut season

In his second season Naveen Kumar has already improved to what he did in his debut season (PKL 2018). He had scored 172 raid points last season. He has already scored 174 with eight matches still to go in the league stage of PKL 2019. He has been one of the most consistent raiders this season as seen from the fact that he has 13 Super 10s from his 14 matches. His lowest score in a match has been 7 raid points.

Naveen Kumar Season-Wise
Season	Matches	Raid Points	Super 10s	Avg. Raid Pts.	Raid SR
PKL  6	22	172	8	7.8	56
PKL  7	14	174	13	12.4	62

 

WATCH NAVEEN KUMAR's INTERVIEW HERE

Good in all phases
 
Naveen Kumar has a raid strike rate above 50 in all four phases of the game, showing his ability to score in any given phase. Pawan Sehrawat and Naveen Kumar are the only two raiders this season (minimum 50 raids) to have a raid strike rate above 50 in every single phase of the game.  While most raiders tend to start slow, Naveen Kumar has his best performance in the first 10 minutes of the game. His raid strike rate of 69 in the 1st 10 minutes is the best among raiders this season.

Naveen Kumar - PKL 7
Time	Raids	Raid Points	Raid SR
1-10	68	47	69
11-20	66	41	62
31-40	67	35	52
21-30	79	51	65

 

With Naveen in their ranks, Delhi Have Been the best raiding unit in PKL 2019
In the seventh edition of Pro Kabaddi League, the impact of having good raiders had a direct consequence in team’s results. Dabang Delhi, with Naveen Kumar’s presence have been the top performing raid unit in PKL 2019. Delhi have the best raid point average as well as the best raid strike rate.

Top Performing Raid Units - PKL 7
Team	Avg. Raid Pts	Raid SR	Current League Standing
Dabang Delhi	20.7	51	1st
Bengaluru Bulls	20.1	47	4th
Bengal Warriors	19.9	48	2nd
Haryana Steelers	18.9	45	3rd

 

Dabang Delhi’s raiders have been hard to stop for the opposition defenders as they have a failed raid % of just 19%, the lowest among all teams this season.

Most SUPER 10s - PKL 7				Lowest Raid Failure % - PKL 7
Team	SUPER 10s			Team	Raid Failure%
Dabang Delhi K.C	15			Dabang Delhi K.C	19%
Bengaluru Bulls	12			Bengal Warriors	20%
Bengal Warriors/Haryana Steelers	10			Haryana Steelers	21%

 

WATCH: Gujarat Fortunegiants vs Dabang Delhi, Match 20 video Highlights


 

Key Battle: Naveen Kumar vs Gujarat’s Defence

No other team has succeeded better in stopping Naveen Kumar in PKL. He averages only 6.5 raid points per game against Gujarat with a raid strike rate under 50 (44) having played four matches against them.

Naveen Kumar - Worst Record vs. an opposition – PKL (min. 2 matches)
Opposition	Avg Raid Pts	Raid SR
Gujarat Fortunegiants	6.5	44
Puneri Paltan	7.8	51
Bengaluru Bulls	8.5	50

 

Only two defenders in the history of PKL have a positive head to head against Naveen Kumar. One of them is Parvesh Bhainswal from Gujarat who has managed to tackle him five times.

Defenders with a positive H2H vs. Naveen Kumar - PKL (Min. 3 duels)
Raider	Head-to-Head		Defender
Naveen Kumar	0	5	Parvesh Bhainswal
Naveen Kumar	3	5	Girish Ernak