Dabang Delhi’s campaign in the third season of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League has not gone as planned. They currently sit at the bottom of the league table, having won just one game so far out of eleven and are out of the reckoning for a place in the semifinals.
On Thursday, they conceded the most number of points in a single game in the history of the competition as they slumped to an embarrassing 67-34 defeat at the hands of the Patna Pirates, that too in front of their home crowd. With skipper Ravinder Pahal missing due to injury, they were outclassed by the league leaders as the Eagles could only pick up a meagre seven tackle points during the course of the game.
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It was the Delhi side who started stronger during the game but the gulf in class became evident during the course of the 40 minutes. They suffered a total of five all outs as the Patna raiders made merry, with Rohit Kumar picking up 15 points on his forays into the Delhi half.
Speaking after the match, stand-in skipper Kashiling Adake bemoaned the injury situation in the team and how small mistakes had cost them dearly during the course of the season. With star signing Wazir Singh out injured, key defender and captain Ravinder Pahal has now joined him on the treatment table.
The Hawk, who has made the right corner position his own, has endured a patchy season this time around, after being adjudged the best defender in the previous edition of the league.
“We know that Patna is a very strong team but we had a plan in place. Over the season, we have had problems in the right cover position in defense, which Patna made the most of. Kabaddi is a team sport and it will be unfair to point fingers at individual players for the team’s poor performance,” said Kashi, who led the side despite suffering from high fever. He also stated that the Eagles will now look to give their fans something to cheer about in the two games left in their home leg.
Surjeet Singh, who was the scorer for Delhi on the night, said that it was important that the players don’t lose heart and that they continue to give their best. He said that he was glad that his side continued to fight for each point towards the end and gave it their all, especially as they were playing without their leader Ravinder Pahal. Towards the end, like Kashi, he stressed on how his side will give their all in the remaining games and repay the fans for the unconditional support they have shown.
