Star Sports Pro Kabaddi (PKL) Season 4 was the most closely contested edition in the tournament’s history, largely due to the auction that took place ahead of the season. The gap between the team that finished at the top of the league and the bottom placed team was the least among all the 4 seasons.
In the recently concluded edition, we saw that any team could beat the other on any given day as exemplified by Puneri Paltan’s first ever win over derby rivals U Mumba in Mumbai. Due to the added competitiveness of the league, there were plenty of matches that had the audience on the edge of their seats.
Let’s take a look at 5 of the best matches that took place in the fourth edition of PKL:
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#5 U Mumba 34-36 Patna Pirates: Match 9
The season 3 champions squared off against the season 2 champions at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. As a new look, but depleted U Mumba side took to the mat, Patna Pirates fancied their chances as they had ammunition, that was unparalleled.
It turned out to be a match between two stellar raiders – Rishank Devadiga and Pardeep Narwal. The latter capped a stupendous performance scoring a massive 18 raid points- exactly 50% of Patna’s points. Rishank, on the other hand, managed an impressive 11 points but even a super 10 wasn’t enough to stop the Patna juggernaut. At the back, Bajirao Hodage was chipped in with 4 tackle points as the men in green eventually came out on top with a 36-34 victory.
#4 Telugu Titans 33-35 Patna Pirates: Match 15
In this match at Hyderabad, two forces of nature went head to head as Telugu Titans’ Rahul Chaudhari hosted Pardeep Narwal from Patna Pirates. Both the players matched each other every step of the way and ended scoring 11 raid points each.
Pardeep, however, had help from the unheralded hero Rajesh Mondal – who proved to be the difference between the two attack minded teams. The do or die specialist scored an impressive 7 points to guide Patna to a 35-33 win in what was a nail-biting clash.
#3 U Mumba 27-28 Bengaluru Bulls: Match 49
In the final match of the Mumbai leg, the Bengaluru Bulls, who had already bowed out of the competition by then, took on Anup Kumar’s U Mumba, who desperately needed a win to keep their chances alive for a semi-final spot.
Both sides battled in front of a boisterous capacity crowd at NSCI stadium. Anup Kumar was in his zone picking up 7 points while his defensive compatriot Surjeet achieved a high five. For Bengaluru, Rohit Kumar produced a sublime 8 raid point performance. But, it was former U Mumba man Mohit Chhillar who spoiled the party for the men in orange.
Presented with the chance to win the match in the dying seconds- Rakesh Kumar was expertly tackled by Mohit Chhillar as their former hero silenced the animated stadium with one move. The Bulls won the closely contested match 28-27 to gift U Mumba their second ever home loss.
#2 Patna Pirates 37-33 Puneri Paltan: 1st Semi-Final
The first semi-final of season 4 had all the ingredients to make for a mouth-watering clash. Both sides were decked up with ample firepower in defence and attack. The Pirates began on the front foot with the trio of Pardeep, Surjeet Singh and Rajesh Mondal all taking turns to dance their way past the Pune defence. But Pune’s quality shone through immediately.
Deepak Niwas Hooda was in his zone scoring a total of nine points. His captain, Manjeet Chhillar put in a rock solid performance securing 7 tackle points. But the Pirates’ all-round performance eventually took them to the finals. Pardeep secured a super 10. Mondal scored 6. Kuldeep Singh scored a high 5 and Surjeet Singh chipped in with 5 points from his end. Working in unison, they beat Puneri Paltan 37-33.
#1 Patna Pirates 15-33 Dabang Delhi: Match 26
Riding high on a 5-match winning run, Dharmaraj Cheralathan and co. were all set to blaze past a weak Dabang Delhi side. To add to Delhi’s woes, they were playing in Patna. But what ensued on the mat perplexed the entire Kabaddi world.
The capital side tore into the Patna defence with captain on the night, Meraj Sheykh leading from the front with six points in total. The Pirates found no way through a Fort Knox like Delhi defence led by Sachin Shingade, who ended the match with 4 tackle points.
Star man Pardeep Narwal, who scored just three raid points, was kept out of the game for a massive 25 minutes. Delhi were relentless and caused havoc inside Patna’s half. They handed Patna their heaviest home defeat in PKL history, annihilating them by 18 points. That match will go down in history as one of the greatest upsets in the tournament.
