Naveen Kumar fitness: How did the Naveen Express get injured?

On Wednesday, star raider Naveen Kumar played Dabang Delhi's match against Jaipur Pink Panthers in the PKL 2023 with a wrist injury. Despite wincing in pain and holding his hands during raids, Naveen managed to accumulated points for his team in offense.

However, things turned from bad to worse as he dislocated his left knee during one of the raids and was stretchered off the mat. The visuals weren’t great, and according to the latest update, he has been taken to the hospital for scans.

Naveen Kumar wasn’t fully fit prior to the start of the game and this begs the question whether it was necessary to play him in the seven on Wednesday.

His impact on the mat, though, was evident as Delhi had secured a big lead in the first half of the game. At the end of the half way stage mark, the scoreline read 23-11 in their favour.

Ankush, Arjun Deshwal inspire Jaipur Pink Panthers’ comeback

However, Jaipur Pink Panthers looked like a completely different outfit in the second half of the game. Ankush led the way in the defense and consistently accumulated points for the team.

On the other hand, Arjun Deshwal, who was failing to secure points in the first half, upped his game and brought the team back into the game.

Jaipur Pink Panthers, who were once trailing by more than 10 points, went on to level the scores. In the end, the game ended in a tie. It was the third tie of PKL 2023.

Arjun Deshwal ended up with 13 points, while Ankush starred with 7 points in 8 tackle points. For Delhi, Ashu Malik was their most successful raider with 7 points. Delhi have managed to win three matches from six games in PKL 2023 and the injury to Naveen could prove to be detrimental to their chances of making the playoffs.