The Patna Pirates were crowned champions of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 3 after they defeated defending champions and heavy favourites U Mumba in a memorable encounter. In a truly riveting game of Kabaddi, the Pirates managed to maintain their lead throughout the game and never let the initiative slip.
They survived some nervy moments toward the end and recorded a narrow 31-28 win to lift their first ever Pro Kabaddi title.
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The Pirates attacked from the outset and stunned the reigning champions to open up a quickfire 14-4 lead in the 12th minute. The U Mumba side looked as if they had been caught off guard as Rohit Kumar garnered points with some stunning raids and Sandeep Narwal ousted the U Mumba raiders with powerful and well-timed dashes. It looked as if the Pirates had done their homework on their opponents and were making the most of their weaknesses.
Pardeep Narwal, who has been their best raider during the course of the campaign, was ruled out of the final with an ankle injury. Despite his absence, the Patna side coped well and edged out the opposition. Manpreet Singh, the winning captain, explained after the match how they had planned meticulously for this game and how they made use of their strengths and U Mumba’s frailties.
Fazel Atrachali, U Mumba’s Iranian star, has been one of the best defenders in Season 3 and has impressed one and all with his ankle holds. Manpreet said, “We knew that we needed to neutralize Fazel if we wanted to put pressure on U Mumba. Therefore, our raiders stayed away from him and did not allow him to get his tackles in, which worked in our favour very well.”
The statistics show that the man from Iran had zero points on the night and was substituted late in the first half, as the Pirates’ strategy worked perfectly.
The skipper also told how his side had anticipated that Shabeer Bapu will be used as a raider by U Mumba and how they had contrived to tackle him. Out of six attempts, the Mumbai man was brought down twice in the same manner as told by Manpreet, showing how the depth of preparation can often be the difference between winning and losing.
Then came the masterstroke in the final minute, when Manpreet subbed himself off for youngster Deepak Narwal who managed to pick up a touch point on a do or die raid and essentially won the game for his side. “I know for a fact that Deepak is a better player than me and can raid very well on the bounce. Knowing his strengths, I instructed him to put his leg in and then jump towards the halfway line, which is what he did and won us the all important point,” stated the victorious skipper.
Some valuable insights by the Patna Pirates skipper, which show that kabaddi is as much a game of mental strength as it a physical one!
