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Pro Kabaddi League is fast becoming the gift that keeps on giving. Two matches were lined up for Thursday evening and both the matches showed why this league is such a hit among millions of Indians.
In the first game, Jaipur Pink Panthers faced Puneri Paltan. In a thrilling encounter, the Panthers just about managed a victory in the dying moments of the game when Sandeep Narwal failed to make his last raid count.
In the second match, Tamil Thalaivas were searching for their first win of Season 5 against the home team Bengaluru Bulls, who were looking to bring curtains down on their home leg with a win. In another match that went down to the wire, the Ajay Thakur led Thalaivas pipped the Bulls to register their first ever victory of the Pro Kabaddi League.
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Here are the five talking points from the day.
#1 Paltan's lobby problems
Rohit Kumar Chaudhari has the name of two men who have been heroes of the Pro Kabaddi League. But his performances haven’t been half as impressive as either of them. On Thursday, luck wasn’t with him as the linesman took him off from the court, almost forcibly.
The incident occurred when Tushar Patil came on to raid in the 8th minute. He didn't have to do much to get his team a point, for the point was conceded by the Paltan themselves. Rohit Kumar was found backing up too much in anticipation of an approaching Patil who had looked threatening on the night.
The linesman intervened as soon as he spotted Chaudhari’s right foot going behind the white line into the lobby. The replays, however, suggested that his foot was on the line and his ankle didn’t cross it. Chaudhari didn’t look too happy and gave the linesman a piece of his mind, earning a green card in the process.
Later in the match, even Dharamaraj Chelarathan was found guilty of the same offense, not once but twice. But the replays in his case made it clear that, unlike Chaudhary, he did step into the lobby.
#2 Flared tempers and a no review day
It is difficult to say what led to what on Thursday night in the game between the Jaipur Pink Panthers and Puneri Paltan. Did the lack of reviews frustrate the teams and lead to bad blood or vice versa?
Whatever may have been the reason, there is no denying the fact that the match wasn’t played in the best of spirit. Each and every raider was welcomed with jibes and taunts, necessitating referee intervention on multiple occasions.
Even referee decisions were met with explicit protests. With the reviews squandered by both the teams early on, the players did little to hide their emotions. The celebrations got wilder and more animated with every passing minute. The end result - a whopping three green cards.
#3 Skipper Chhillar leads from the front
Manjeet Chhillar has often been referred to as the 'One Man Army' of the PKL for there are few players in the Pro Kabaddi League whose all round skills outshine his.
He defended like a champion and raided like a champion. What's more, he even marshalled his troops like a champion. When his team was falling behind in the initial stages of the first half, he brought down a rampaging Sandeep Narwal with a fabulous thigh hold to get them back into the match.
When his team gained the lead, he helped increase it by accumulating crucial raid points. He ended with nine points and, in the process, became the first to accumulate 200 tackle points in Pro Kabaddi League history.
#4 The umpiring goof up that changed the game
The score read 23-25 with just 100 seconds left on the clock. After struggling to make inroads in the first half, the Bulls brilliantly emulated the Thalaivas' feat from the last game and clawed their way back into the contest. That’s when Ashish Kumar went in to take the decisive raid. What followed was utter chaos.
Kumar claimed a touch on the left corner after which he jumped into the lobby while his team was awarded two points. He got one more point as a Thalaivas defender unsuccessfully challenged him on his retreat. The Thalaivas, knowing the importance of the points, went upstairs for a review.
The replays proved inconclusive and it seemed that on account of running into the lobby, Kumar would be sent off and Thalaivas would get the point. In a perplexing turn of events, the umpires gifted both teams a point each.
Question marks remained over how Kumar could have got one point for the running touch and not another point for overcoming the charging defender’s challenge.
One can only wonder how the last 100 seconds would have panned out had the review gone in favour of the Bulls.
#5 Thalaivas show they belong in the league
The Tamil Thalaivas-Bengaluru Bulls match didn’t begin on Thursday. In fact, it seemed like a continuation of their last game. In their previous encounter, the Thalaivas came back from a 23-8 halftime deficit to lose by a solitary point. In the second half, the Thalaivas scored 23 while the Bulls managed 9.
That seemed to spur them on as they went all out in the first half on Thursday night. What helped the Thalaivas' cause was the fact that they were up against a team who had played five games in the last six days. Although the Bulls ran them close in the second half, the Thalaivas held on to their lead in the final moments to register their first win of the league.
