Pro Kabaddi League Season 5: 5 outstanding stats from Gujarat Fortunegiants’ league campaign

Gujarat Fortunegiants took to the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi like a fish to water by finishing top of the table in their very first season. With 15 wins and 3 draws in 22 matches, the new franchise finished with a record 87 points to qualify for the play-off week in style.

Coming into the season with a clear plan and proper preparation in mind, the Fortunegiants established their dominance from the start itself. Only 3 teams – namely Haryana Steelers, Jaipur Pink Panthers, and Tamil Thalaivas – were able to defeat them. What’s telling is that only one of these teams had played in the Pro Kabaddi before. The aforementioned stat clearly highlights how well they had researched their opponents before they started their campaign.

The Adani Group-owned Gujarat Fortunegiants slayed plenty of records en route to the top spot in the league. Let’s take a look at the top 5:

Least number of losses in the season – 4

If one took a look at the Zone A table, they would see that Gujarat and Pune finished with 15 points each. However, the Fortunegiants managed to finish a huge 7 points ahead of the Paltan after the culmination of the group stage. This was largely due to Gujarat’s resilience to not lose matches.

With just 4 losses in 22 matches, Gujarat not only suffered the least losses in Zone A, but in the entire season – a startling fact given their status as the new entrants to the league. When it looked like they were losing, they either completely turned the tables or managed to sneak in an unlikely draw – epitomised by the 3 occasions their matches ended in stalemate.

In a 12-team tournament, this is a new record, and will take some beating!

Only team with an unbeaten home-run

The Gujarat team thank the fans for their support after a stellar home leg

Season 5 of the PKL saw an entirely new format with home teams playing 6 matches in a week – 2 more than the older format. This change in format brought with it a new challenge for the teams – how to rotate, yet remain effective at home to manage the fixture congestion. Manpreet Singh managed this task admirably as was evident by the fact that Gujarat Fortunegiants emerged as the only team to finish their home leg without a loss.

The Fortunegiants fans who had assembled at the Arena, Ahmedabad were in for a treat for the entire week as the home team won 5 and drew 1 out of their 6 matches to reach the top of the table – a position they managed to hold on to till the end of the group stage. The only team to prevent the Gujarat rollercoaster from making it 6 wins out of 6 was Bengal Warriors on the last day of the Ahmedabad leg.

Nonetheless, it was a truly memorable home leg for the Fortunegiants, and a record-breaking one, too.

Most points by a teenager - Sachin Tawar (153 points)

Sachin Tawar in action, escaping the grasp of the Jaipur Pink Panthers defenders

When Gujarat Fortunegiants decided to shell out Rs. 36 lakhs at the auction for a teenager, many were doubting the sanity of that decision. However, 3 months later, that amount looks like a bargain as the most expensive teenage Sachin Tawar mesmerised everyone with his skills on the kabaddi mat.

The India Junior captain scored 153 points, which is now the record for the most points scored by a teenager in a single season. And, with the playoffs to come, his season isn’t done yet! Let’s see how big a challenge he can set for the others.

Foreigner with most tackle points - Abozar Mighani (60 points)

Abozar Mighani poses for a picture as he collects yet another award for his scintillating defensive display

The Gujarat side had the Iranian duo of Abozar Mighani and Fazel Atrachali at the heart of their defense and it was the former who had a better season! Although Fazel was the bigger name ahead of the season, right corner Abozar Mighani has, now, established himself alongside his international teammate.

His name has now been written in the history books for becoming the foreigner with the most tackle points in a single season with 60. The previous record belonged to his PKL and international teammate Fazel Atrachali, who scored 52 points in Season 4. With at least 2 more matches yet to play in the play-offs, Abozar is set to take his tally much higher.

Least points conceded – 569 points

The Gujarat Fortunegiants were the best team in the league in defence

When the teams were divided into 2 Zones, one could be forgiven for fearing the worst for Gujarat Fortunegiants. After all, they were paired with 2 former champions in U Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers. The presence of Puneri Paltan, defensively strong Haryana Steelers, and the revamped Dabang Delhi didn’t make it any easier for Gujarat.

The team, however, grabbed the opportunity with both hands and used their defensive strengths to the maximum to counter the threats posed by the other teams. They defended as a team and that showed in the statistics table as they finished the group having conceded 569 points – the lowest in the entire league. The two corners Abozar and Fazel were given ample support by the covers – Parvesh Bhainswal and Sunil Kumar – as the team rode on their defence into the playoffs with a real chance of silverware in their debut season.