Pro Kabaddi League 2018: 3 Young players who will shine this season

The Pro Kabaddi league since its inception has unearthed young stars full of potential. From Deepak Niwas Hooda, Nitin Tomar to Pardeep Narwal.

Each season provides a lot of opportunities for young players to challenge their potential. The coaching staff spends its offseason time in looking out for fresh talents and turning them into superstars.

It's only fair to say that Kabaddi has seen a monumental rise in terms of viewership and respect. This can be attributed to certain stars in teams and supporters. All the stars that we know today were once unknown to us and rode up the ladder of kabaddi and have risen to glory.

This season too, a couple of young players were paid a fair sum of money which indicated their potential. They have already made a huge impact on the league in the few matches that have played.

Here are three young players who have made an impact on the league and have a spectacular season ahead.

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#3 Shrikanth Jadhav (U.P.Yoddha)

Shrikanth Jadhav has been a standout performer for the UP Yoddha this season. Despite the team's poor performance, he has managed to give his best performances and has amassed 36 raid points from four games.

While this may not seem too great, he was one of four raiders used and Rishank and the other raiders were not too effective often getting tackled.

He was part of the U Mumba side last year and scored 98 raid points and supported Anup very well. His free-scoring ability and escape skills prompted the U.P side to buy him at the auction this season.

He is primarily a right raider and very skilled with the bonus point and toe touch while maintaining an effective running hand touch. He has a swift change of direction and turn and finds gaps in defenses. He lures defenders into making mistakes and is a do or die specialist.

Although the Yoddha haven't been at their best, they can take confidence from the fact that their games were close.

They need to regroup, calm down and focus on dominating certain stages of the match and handling the lead. Shrikanth Jadhav will no doubt be one of their leading weapons against oppositions this year.

#2 Pawan Kumar Shehrawat (Bengaluru Bulls)

Match 8, Season 6 between Bengaluru Bulls and Tamil Thalaivas was pretty much over by halftime. The Bulls led 28-12. Despite a lone fightback from Ajay Thakur, the Bulls held on for a win. Their lead was albeit an unexpected source.

Young raider Pawan Kumar Shehrawat scored two super raids in the first half. One of them was a five-point raid. Rohit Kumar, the captain was suffering from a niggle and put in just two raids. This was a great chance of Pawan to show what he was made of.

He is a nimble-footed and very swift across the court and specializes in the running hand touch. He is dynamic and is able to quickly change direction.

This he showed when he targeted nervous right cover Ponparthiban and every time the defender was revived, he went and got him again.

He is also very good with the turn and showed great maturity and awareness that day. This is evident with his three super raids that day. He was also tackled only once and this showcases his escaping ability.

Used as a substitute last season, the coach backed him for starts this year and he will be pleased to see that it has paid off.

Rohit Kumar, the captain is fit now and will start to put in more raids and Kashiling Adake has given a good performance as well.

This will certainly affect his raiding opportunities. Yet the team has seen what he can do and he has already made quite an impact on the league. They will surely back him and let this young star shine along with the prospects of a title-winning campaign.

#1 Siddharth Desai (U Mumba)

The U Mumba side opted for a fresh look side releasing Anup Kumar and buying Fazel Atrachali. Other big money signings were Abhishek Singh and then, Siddharth Desai.

Siddharth Desai made an immediate impact scoring 15 points on his Pro Kabaddi L debut justifying his price tag.

He got the Mumbai side their lead vs the Puneri Paltan and helped them get level when they lost it. He followed it up with 13 points vs the Pink Panthers where his two crucial raids help turn the match in their favour. He has scored 36 points in three matches with a healthy not out rate.

He is a tall left raider with a very good running hand touch. He is good with the toe touch and specializes in the turn and backtracking skills.

His quick change of direction force defenders to commit into early, weak challenges which he easily escapes. He took 6 touch points of probably one of the league's best defenders, Sandeep Narwal and that makes a statement.

This young raider, probably the next super star in the making will be a key component in the U Mumba side if they want to make a title run. He is sure to bey one of the super stars in the league.