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PKL 9 stats: Naveen Kumar fastest to reach 700 raid points, Maninder Singh crosses 1,000

Dabang Delhi’s Naveen Kumar scored three Super 10s in the opening week of the Pro Kabaddi league (PKL9). PKL

The opening week of the ninth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL9) saw a couple of freak injuries, the emergence of fresh talent and a consistent show from the defending champions.

From Pawan Sehrwat's knee injury to Dabang Delhi's impressive start, here's the week summed up in numbers:

1 - Patna Pirates' Mohammadreza Shadlu, who was the only overseas player retained for PKL 9, was the first Iranian to play in this edition. He didn't have a great first game though, picking up just two points against Telugu Titans.

2 - Maninder Singh became just the second raider to cross the 1000 raid points mark. He's done that despite having played only six of the last nine seasons of PKL.

3 - Three successive Super 10s for Dabang Delhi captain Naveen Kumar. Yeah, there's no stopping him.

3 - Three new rules for PKL9: the lobby rule has been removed, teams can make seven substitutions and can have 14 players in their matchday squads.

5 - The Telugu Titans defence, despite having the likes of Parvesh Bhainswal, Vishal Bharadwaj, Surjeet Singh and Ravinder Pahal, managed all of five tackle points in 40 minutes of kabaddi against Bengal Warriors. Fun fact: two of those tackle points came from Vinay, a raider.

10 - Tamil Thalaivas captain Pawan Sehrawat was on the mat for only 10 minutes before hurting his knee. He made just two raids and had one bonus point to his name before he was taken off. Coach J. Udaya Kumar says, "we'll not take any risk, he'll do a proper rehab and then come back. He'll be out for some time."

13 - All 13 Iranian players have reached India after missing out on the opening three days of action due to visa issues. They flew to Sri Lanka last weekend before arriving in Bengaluru on Tuesday and Wednesday.

14 - Girish Maruti Ernak has been the best defender so far with 14 tackle points. The Bengal Warriors left-corner also has two High-5s to his name.

20 - The biggest win margin of the opening week. Dabang Delhi rode a stunning all-round display to beat Gujarat Giants 53-33.

21 - The number of points UP Yoddhas' Surender Gill scored vs Dabang Delhi on Wednesday. That's two points more than how many Pardeep Narwal has managed in three games. Surender is also the first player to score over 20 points in a single game in PKL9.

64 - Naveen Kumar became the fastest-ever to reach 700 raid points in just 64 games. He got to the milestone in seven games less than Pardeep Narwal [71 games].

100 - Win percentage for reigning champions Dabang Delhi and Haryana Steelers. Dabang Delhi are undefeated in their three opening matches, while Haryana Steelers have won their two games.

3125 - People who braved Bengaluru's rain forecast to attend the opening day's action last Friday.