Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: 5 best matches from Ahmedabad leg

The Ahmedabad leg of Pro Kabaddi League Season 5 belonged to one team and one team only. One week into the tournament, fans and critics began to wonder if playing at home was a double-edged sword. The home support was no doubt critical but at what price?

The Telugu Titans and Bengaluru Bulls bore the brunt of an extremely congested line of home fixtures. But the Gujarat Fortunegaints proved all of us wrong. Unbeaten for an entire week, Sukesh Hegde’s team went on a five-match winning run before securing a draw in their final home game. The Ahmedabad leg produced some nail-biting matches and some dominating performances. Let’s take a look at five of the best!

#1 Gujarat Fortunegiants vs U Mumba

Match number 23 was the very first match of the Ahmedabad leg and the fans were treated to a supremely efficient performance from the home side. Up against an inconsistent Mumbai, Gujarat completely dismantled Anup and co. from the get go. The home side’s squad depth truly came to the fore.

They showed that they weren’t solely dependent on their usual suspects – Sukesh and Fazel. Rohit Gulia scored a massive nine points and was Gujarat’s star raider on that night. Giving him company in defence was Iranian defender, Abozar Mighani who chipped in with an impressive high five. Gujarat ended up winning the match 39-21, thus stamping their authority at home from Day 1.

#2 Patna Pirates vs U.P Yoddha

What would have been one of the worst nights Pardeep Narwal could have endured, turned out to be one of his most important. Up against an equally talented, UP side, the Patna Pirates were found themselves at sea, with their star man, Pardeep out of form.

Time and again, the Yoddha’s defenders, especially Pankaj, managed to stifle him and sent him to the bench on multiple occasions. With UP leading, Narwal finally decided to enter the party and took the game by the scruff of its neck. In a span of three minutes, he scored six points and levelled the game.

At the end of the night, Pardeep had nine points to his name and the game finished 27-27.

#3 Bengal Warriors v Puneri Paltan

Prior to this match, the Bengal Warriors looked impressive and were touted as one of the front-runners of Pro Kabaddi Season 5. They were up against Puneri Paltan, a side for all their star power, that still hadn’t managed to put in a thoroughly dominant performance on the mat. It all changed in match 28 as they ran riot over a hapless Bengal side.

Sandeep Narwal was a livewire throughout the game and finished the night with seven points to his name. With captain, Deepak Hooda playing it safe, up stepped, More GB who chipped in with 6 crucial raid points. Puneri Paltan inflicted a massive 34-17 defeat on Warriors and set a marker for the following games.

#4 Gujarat Fortunegaints vs Telugu Titans

There aren’t too many days when Rahul Chaudhari is kept quiet. But when it happens, it shows on the scorecard. Telugu Titans, a side notorious for being part of high scoring games, managed to score just 19 points against Gujarat in match number 31. Chaudhari managed to score just three points that night as Gujarat’s chief raiders came to the fore.

Captain Sukesh Hegde finally showed up with a commendable performance, scoring seven raid points. It was his young teammate, Sachin who truly lit up the game. Picking up a massive 11 raid points, Sachin, who has been part of the junior Indian kabaddi team, showed signs that he may well be ready for the senior team. The match ended 29-19 in Gujarat’s favour.

#5 Dabang Delhi vs Tamil Thalaivas

The final day of the Ahmedabad leg saw two of the league’s weakest teams go head to head. With neither of them displaying form worth noticing, this was always going to be a nail biter and it turned out to be exactly that. Thalaivas captain Ajay Thakur, who was at the receiving end of some harsh criticism for his indifferent form, replied back with an impressive super 10.

However, his counterpart Meraj Sheykh, who was struggling for form himself, stole the headlines. The Iranian scored points, chief among them being the super raid that he executed in the final seconds of the match. He put Thaliavas to the sword with that move as Delhi ended up winning the game 30-29.