Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Five talking points from Day 38 of PKL 5

The crowd at the Motilal Nehru School of Sports had the good fortune of seeing some of the best raiding of Season 5 as they were witness to several raiding stars dazzle on the mat on Saturday's Inter Zonal Challenges. First up, the Patna Pirates and U Mumba dished out a high scoring encounter where three raiders went beyond the Super 10 mark - one of them even notching 20 points.

But Patna's defence could hardly do any of the magic that their captain Pardeep Narwal seemed to be doing on the mat with his raiding as they committed errors aplenty to hand U Mumba the match.

In the other contest of the night, the Bengaluru Bulls were outplayed by the Haryana Steelers whose defence and raiding department worked in tandem to give them a seven point win over Bengaluru Bulls who continue to disappoint their fans.

Here are the five talking points from day 37.

#1 Kashiling of old returns

Captain Anup Kumar must be mighty pleased with Adake's return to form

It was long coming and now it’s there. The form of Kashiling Adake had been a reason for worry for the U Mumba setup in the first few legs of Season 5. But not anymore. Over the last few matches, he has looked the mirror image of the Adake who won over kabaddi fans with his raiding when the league began.

After his match-winning performance against Jaipur Pink Panthers, Adake has gone from strength to strength and was in his elements on Saturday night as well. He was intimidating with his wide wingspan and always looked capable of getting a point with his running hand touch. It was heartening to see Anup Kumar trusting him with the most of the raiding on Saturday, making him the lead raider of the night while taking a back seat himself.

With Patna threatening a comeback in the last 10 minutes, Adake put in a heroic raid which he reviewed to get his team five points by eliminating the last two defenders of Patna Pirates to push their lead to 10. He even got the team a point with their last raid to take his tally to 15 points for the night.

#2 U Mumba’s second line of offence shines

Young Darshan Kadyan has contributed with vital points from time to time

When the squads were announced after the auctions before the season began, U Mumba resembled the Marvel’s Avengers with its bevvy of raiding stars. Anup Kumar was given the support of Shabeer Bapu and Kashiling Adake and the team looked certain to repeat their heroics from the first three seasons. But as it often happens, things didn’t work out to plan and U Mumba really struggled in the first few legs of Season 5, forcing them to change their strategy.

Unfancied names like Shrikant Jadhav and Darshan Kadyan were given chances while Adake and Bapu were made to sit out. The two new entrants didn’t set the stage on fire initially but did enough to get their team management’s faith.

And they are now beginning to repay that faith by turning in performances that matter. On Saturday, unlike other matches, Anup Kumar trusted Adake and Shrikant with the raiding duties and both earned themselves a Super 10. Even Kadyan, who just went in for three raids, got his team two points from those raid attempts. Much of the resurgence of U Mumba in Season 5 has got to do with their second line of offence delivering the goods.

#3 Perfect Pardeep let down by defence again

It was another night of heartbreak for Narwal who couldn't finish on the winning side despite a stellar effort

How much can a captain do by himself? Pardeep Narwal would tell you, "a lot". In the eleven matches he has featured in for Patna Pirates, he has gone past the tally of 10 points on eight occasions and has converted them into big Super 10s as well many a time.

Yet, it’s a pity that all those numbers of a champion raider don’t do a lot to help his team win who have just five wins to show from 11 attempts. And the culprit has been the Patna defence.

Despite boasting of names like Vishal Mane and Sachin Shingade, the errors have come in thick and fast from the men in yellow and green. Not a single Patna Pirates defender feature in the top 10 defenders of Season 5 and the lone bright spot throughout the season for them has been Jaideep. However, on Saturday, even Jaideep had a woeful night as he made seven unsuccessful tackle attempts.

Worse was the case with Mane and Shingade who couldn’t earn a single point in defence, making seven unsuccessful tackle attempts together for Patna. It’s a testimony of the awful defence of Patna that despite scoring 85 points in the last two games, the team failed to win either of the contests.

#4 Haryana’s image makeover

Vikash Khandola's injury has proved to be a blessing in disguise as it has allowed Prashanth to come to the fore

When Season 5 began, Haryana was the team with the most formidable of defences. Defenders Surender Nada and Mohit Chhillar looked the team’s best bets as the team didn’t possess a raider of the kinds of Rohit Kumar or Rahul Chaudhari or Pardeep Narwal. The best they seemed to possess was Surjeet Singh.

But this game has shown that all punditry can fail in the face of the game’s uncertainty. Wazir Singh has upped his game with every match while Surjeet Singh has done what he was expected to whenever he has been given the opportunity.

And then there is the small matter of a certain Prashanth Kumar Rai who is giving the team selectors some facepalm moments with one after other stunning performances, forcing them to think why he wasn't given a chance before.

Even on Saturday, in front of a team with raiders like Rohit Kumar and Ajay Kumar, it was the raiders from Haryana who shone. Deepak Kumar Dahiya was fantastic with his first raid which he turned into a super raid by scoring four points and eventually finished with eight. Rai also continued his scorching form and had another night where he scored in excess of 15.

The 'Dhaakad boys' are well and truly turning on the heat with their raids now.

#5 Ajay’s brave performance goes in vain

Apart from Ajay Kumar, Sunil Jaipal also got his team valuable 9 points

It was a contest which Haryana Steelers began as favourites and the one where they had the upper hand for the most part of the game. Yet, one man who kept on bringing the Bengaluru Bulls within sniffing distance of Haryana’s score was young Ajay Kumar.

The young man who impressed everyone with his raiding abilities last season started off in a strong fashion this season but lost his path midway through the season.

But he has been making a comeback to some sort of form and was the best raider on the court after Prashanth Kumar Rai. Although he couldn’t finish on the winning side, he did a great job to keep his team in the hunt for long before the task became too big for him.

For a man who had started off as a bright prospect and copped criticism for not being able to translate all that potential into match winning performances, the 13 points on Saturday night will do Kumar’s confidence a world of good going into the future fixtures.