Star Sports Pro Kabaddi: 5 talking points from the Delhi leg

It has been a thrilling four days of fast-paced action at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex in Delhi, and a clearer picture of the likely final standings has emerged. As the third edition of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) moves on to the final leg at Mumbai, now is a good time to look back and stock of the recent events.Theres no end to the Patna Pirates dominance this season as they continue to look lethal; the relentless table-toppers surged to a record win over the home side. Their biggest challengers in 2016, defending champions U Mumba, also continued their march as they notched up their sixth win in a row. While it was a leg to forget for Dabang Delhi and Jaipur Pink Panthers, Puneri Paltan and Bengal Warriors registered useful wins to get back in the reckoning.Here are the 5 talking points from the Delhi leg:

#1 U Mumba head to their home leg on a high

U Mumba were dominant against Bengaluru Bulls in Delhi

With every match, U Mumba look more and more determined to lay their hands on the trophy for the second year in a row. Ever since they won a nail-biting encounter against the Bengaluru Bulls at Kolkata, the defending champions have looked like an unstoppable force.

Mumbai’s vastly experienced players led by Anup Kumar are once again playing like a tightly-knit unit, showing robust defense and attacking with authority. That was abundantly evident in their only match in the Delhi leg, when they locked horns with the Bengaluru Bulls.

Unlike the Kolkata match where the Bengaluru franchise faltered in the dying stages, this time U Mumba were dominant right from the start. Thoroughly dictating the proceedings, U Mumba surged to a 16-5 lead at half-time, riding on the stellar efforts of their raiding trio of Anup Kumar, Rakesh Kumar and Rishank Devadiga.

Inflicting all-out on the hapless Bulls thrice, U Mumba made their intentions very clear as they thumped the team from the South 39-18. Rishank scored the highest points as he scooped up seven, while Mohit Chhillar’s solid defense gave the team five more points.

With four matches coming up in their home leg, U Mumba very much have the title in their sights.

#2 Rohit Kumar fashions record win for Patna Pirates

Rohit Kumar (green) in action against Dabang Delhi

If U Mumba have been dazzling of late, the Patna Pirates haven’t been too far behind. Sanjiv Kumar Baliyan’s men are still very much the team to beat even though they did slump to their only loss this season to the 2015 winners at home.

In Delhi, there was no such aberration as the Pirates left the crowd stunned with their sharpness, precision and exceptional balance between aggression and defense. They soared to a 67-34 victory over hosts Dabang Delhi, which shattered the Telugu Titans’ record (60) of most points scored by a single team in a game. The clash also broke the record of the total number of points scored by two teams in a PKL match, surpassing the 90 mustered by the Telugu Titans and Dabang Delhi last season.

Rohit Kumar was once again the show-stealer; he seems to be getting better with every passing day. The raider notched up a whopping 16 points with his stupendous running hand touches and impressive flexibility. Rohit was ably supported by the other two star performers from the Patna team – Sandeep Narwal, who accounted for 11 points, and Pardeep Narwal who pocketed seven.

#3 Dabang Delhi end home leg winless

Dabang Delhi lost 3 matches at home

It hasn’t been a season to remember for Dabang Delhi, to say the least. After managing to salvage some pride with a win over Bengaluru Bulls at Patna, their sorry run resumed as they succumbed in three out of their four assignments at home. The only match where Delhi did not end up on the losing side was the one against the struggling former champions Jaipur Pink Panthers, which finished in a 21-21 stalemate.

Even though they were already out of semi-final contention even before arriving in Delhi, the Eagles still had a chance to bring some joy to their dedicated home fans. But their inability to stick together and play as a cohesive unit has cost them dearly this season, and there was no redemption in their home leg.

The same old problems plagued them as they started with a 36-44 defeat to the now fifth-placed Telugu Titans. Their misery then deepened further as they were mauled 34-67 by the league leaders Patna Pirates.

In their third match they succeeded in narrowly avoiding defeat, as they drew with the Pink Panthers. But their fourth match once more spelled doom and gloom as they lost 31-37 to the Bengal Warriors.

They did have chances against the Warriors, as they were trailing just 13-16 at the interval. Anil Nimbolkar put up a sparkling show as he amassed 14 points, and young ace Selvamani K picked up 10. But neither of them got the required backing from their teammates as Delhi squandered yet another golden opportunity.

#4 Hopes end for Jaipur Pink Panthers

Jaipur Pink Panthers’ draw vs Dabang Delhi spelt the end for the Season 1 winners

The Jaipur Pink Panthers began their Pro Kabaddi journey on a memorable note as they claimed the title in the inaugural season. But after that victory, the magic seems to have left the Abhishek Bachchan-owned team as their title aspirations now lie in tatters.

At the end of the Delhi leg, the Jaipur-based franchise is placed at the sixth position out of the eight teams and has only 28 points to its name. With just one more match remaining for the Panthers in the final leg of the league, it is impossible for them to overcome the five teams placed ahead, and thus they have been knocked out of contention already.

The bottom-placed Dabang Delhi raised Jaipur’s hopes with some sloppy play, but Kasinathan Baskaran’s men could not capitalize and let go of a massive opportunity. It was only C Arun who shone throughout the Jaipur vs Delhi encounter as he rode on an incredible three super tackles to score seven points for the Panthers.

Captain Ran Singh was the pick of the raiders as he grabbed 5 points in this tense, low-scoring match which finished with the two teams tied at 21 points apiece.

#5 Nitin Tomar makes a grand return to bolster Bengal Warriors

Nitin Tomar

Nitin Tomar has been one of the most impressive raiders for the Bengal Warriors this season and had even led the raiders’ leaderboard at one point during the third edition of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi. But an injury kept him out from the Patna and Jaipur legs, which obviously weakened the Warriors’ attack.

Tomar, who is still in the top 5 in the best raiders’ list, returned to his team in Bengal’s only assignment at the Delhi leg and immediately displayed his spellbinding skills. The irrepressible all-rounder not only delivered 10 points in the raiding department, but also picked up three points in defence, replete with a super tackle.

Bengal’s South Korean import Jang Kun Lee complemented Tomar’s efforts with a brilliant 13 points himself, as the rampant duo fashioned a 37-31 victory for the Warriors over the Delhi franchise.

That helped the Bengal Warriors stay in contention for a semi-final place despite having plummeted to the fourth spot prior to this match. With 42 points, the third-placed Warriors are now at par with the second-placed Puneri Paltan, but most importantly, they have more wins than the Pune side.

With two more matches left in the Mumbai leg, Bengal will surely aim to grasp one of the last-four spots and make their debut appearance in the semis of the tournament.