Season 8 of vivo Pro Kabaddi is set to get underway 22nd December 2021 onwards. All 12 teams have started their preparations for the mega event looking to put their best foot forward in their quest for the prestigious PKL trophy.

Strong raiding partnerships can turn a kabaddi match around at any given moment. Hence, teams look to sign top-quality raiders in the auction to add depth to their offence with a mix of young and experienced athletes.

On that note, here are 5 raiding duos that will be exciting to watch in the upcoming vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 8.

Naveen Kumar and Ajay Thakur (Dabang Delhi K.C.)

Dabang Delhi K.C. have amongst themselves an interesting combination of youth and experience in Naveen Kumar and Ajay Thakur respectively. Naveen has established himself as a young sensation, winning the ‘Most Valuable Player’ award in Season 7, with 21 consecutive Super-10s and 301 raid points. Meanwhile, Ajay Thakur is 10 points shy from becoming the fourth player in PKL history to reach 800 points. Naveen could benefit a lot from the latter's presence in the side as Ajay will likely play the role of a mentor during the season.

Siddharth Desai and Rohit Kumar (Telugu Titans)

Telugu Titans chose to retain their ‘Baahubali’ Siddharth Desai in the Season 8 Player Auction, who has shown tremendous raiding ability in the past two seasons with 435 raid points at an average of 10.11 raid points per game. The arrival of Rohit Kumar will further bolster Telugu Titans' offence as he could be the perfect foil for Desai when they go hunting in pairs. Siddharth's top-flight raids combined with Rohit's confident leadership may strike the perfect balance for the team that could see them reaching greater heights in Season 8.

Nitin Tomar and Rahul Chaudhari (Puneri Paltan)

Nitin Tomar will join forces with 'Showman' Rahul Chaudhari to lead the raiding unit for Puneri Paltan. Nitin has been a vital cog for the team, delivering consistently under clinical situations since PKL 6. Rahul Chaudhari, who has more than 1,000 points under his belt, will aim to bounce back after a mediocre campaign with Tamil Thalaivas last season. Both raiders have played together in the domestic circuit for many years and could form a lethal combination in Season 8.

Pawan Sehrawat and Chandran Ranjit (Bengaluru Bulls)

'Hi-Flyer' Pawan Sehrawat played a vital role in taking Bengaluru Bulls to their maiden trophy in PKL 6 and continued his stellar form in PKL 7 with 346 raid points to his name. Tamil Nadu-based Chandran Ranjit, who was a perfect partner for Naveen Kumar in PKL 7, is a consistent performer who has 271 raid points and five Super-10s in the past two seasons. With his quick running hand touches and escapes, Ranjit will make sure that Pawan is quickly revived whenever the latter is sent to the bench. This duo could do wonders for Bengaluru Bulls as they look for a second PKL title in Season 8.

Pardeep Narwal and Shrikant Jadhav (U.P. Yoddha)

'Record-breaker' Pardeep Narwal has taken the kabaddi world by storm, leading Patna Pirates to three titles in a row with more than 1,100 raid points before switching to U.P. Yoddha for a whopping amount of ₹1.65 crores. He has scored almost 42.44% of the Patna Pirates' overall raid points in history. Shrikant Jadhav was U.P. Yoddha's most successful raider last season with 148 raid points and hence, the team made sure to get him back in the offensive unit for Season 8. It will be intriguing to see how this combination pans out for the Greater Noida-based franchise in their quest for a maiden PKL trophy.

​vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 8 starts 22 December, 2021. Catch all the LIVE action on the Star Sports Network and on Disney+Hotstar and follow Pro Kabaddi on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter for all the latest updates!

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