Pro Kabaddi League 2015 - U Mumba's defense wins the game against home side, Bengaluru Bulls

Action shifted from the nation’s capital to the garden city of Bengaluru in Pro Kabaddi League 2015. We had a single game played out yesterday and it was between home side, Bengaluru Bulls and table toppers, U Mumba. The game had a dull start after which U Mumba took a 3-1 lead but Ashish Chhokar, known as the future Ajay Thakur, made a successful raid to close the gap to a single point. In the seventh minute, Rishank Devadiga (do-or-die raid specialist) came in for a do-or-die raid and successfully managed to earn a point for his side. U Mumba quietly slipped into a 4 point lead and again it was Rishank Devadiga coming in to raid. He was successfully tackled by the remaining two Bengaluru Bulls’ defenders for a super tackle. Hold On Though! A video referral was called for by U Mumba captain, Anup Kumar and he was successful as well. One of the defenders had stepped out of court before coming back in to tackle Rishank Devadiga. As a result of this referral, a point was awarded to U Mumba and Bengaluru Bulls were down to their last man. This lone man was the 40 year old defender, Dharmraj Cheralathan who had the task of reviving his teammates but was not successful as the resurgent U Mumba defense tackled him to inflict an all-out on the Bengaluru Bulls. In the final minute of the first half, Rishank Devadiga came in to raid. He had managed to get a defender along with him very close to the mid-line but was pulled back by the Bengaluru Bull defenders. During this scuffle, his jersey was also pulledoff ruthlessly but Rishank Devadiga still could not manage to get his hand across the mid-line. U Mumba went into halftime with a 5 point lead. Manjeet Chillar, pointless till now, started off the proceedings in the second half but returned back empty handed. It was in the thirtieth minute of the game that he managed to pick up a point from a successful tackle. Raiders are being guilty of being greedy for more point. Rishank Devadiga already showed it in the first half. Now it was Ajay Thakur’s turn. His team trailed by 6 points and in he came to raid. Having pulled a U Mumba defender along with him to the mid-line, he waited while looking for more raid points but was pulled back by the same defender. By the 36^th minute, U Mumba had built a 10 point lead. Dharmaraj Cheralathan was again the last man standing and this time he managed to not only get a bonus point but also a touch point. This helped revive Manjeet Chillar. Bhupinder Singh,, in for Shabeer Bapu, came in for the kill and looked to inflict an all-out on Bengaluru Bulls. He was extremely successful as well as he managed to wriggle out of the tackle to barely get his hand across the mid-line. U Mumba slipped into a mammoth lead of 12 point with only 3 minutes to go in the game. Into the last minute and with the game lost, Manjeet Chillar came in to reduce the margin to 7 points in order to help his side get atleast a point from this game. He was aggressive in his raid and managed to do just the needful as the game ended 36-29 in favour of U Mumba. This game was won by U Mumba’s defense as they earned a total of 19 defense points as well as kept the attack of Bengaluru Bulls in check. U Mumba went back into top spot of the Pro Kabaddi2015 points table to take a lead of 5 points with a game in hand. Bengaluru Bulls remain in third spot and still look set to qualify for the semi-finals.

Pro Kabaddi League 2015 - Jaipur Pink Panthers crush Puneri Paltan, Telugu Titans & Dabang Delhi play out an exciting draw

It was the last day at Thyagraj Sports Complex in Delhi and we had a couple of matches. First up it was the Jaipur Pink Panthers up against Puneri Paltan and Jaipur Pink Panthers, already on a four game winning streak, were looking to get into the top 4 with a win. For Puneri Paltan, this match was of little value as they are rooted to the bottom spot in Pro Kabaddi League 2015 standings and were just playing for pride. It was a slow paced game right from the start. Puneri Paltan took a three point lead after 13 minutes but a 2 point raid from Rajesh Narwal brought his right into the match. 

At the 16 minute mark, Wazir Singh came in to raid but a brilliant solo effort from Ran Singh stopped Wazir in his tracks. It was a strong waist hold with which Ran Singh lifted Wazir Singh like a fly before his side supported him. Ran Singh displaying strength and a presence of mind with this move. Jaipur Pink Panthers inflicted an all-out on Puneri Paltan with three minutes in the first half to take a 13-7 lead. At the half way mark, Jaipur Pink Panthers had a healthy lead of 8 points but not a convincing one though as there have been instances of leads being diminished completely. Ran Singh showed his prowess in raiding as well while appearing in a do-or-die raid. He jumped over the Puneri Paltan defense for a point and more importantly a player revival. Puneri Paltan never looked to mount a comeback as the defense of Jaipur Pink Panthers was all over their attack. Debutants, Kazuhiro Takano and Simon Maina Kubura, also got into the action with a successful raid each. Jaipur Pink Panthers closed out the match at 31-18. Ran Singh and Kuldeep Singh combined in defense whereas Sonu Narwal and Rajesh Narwal combined in attack for a superb overall performance to earn the win for Jaipur Pink Panthers. 

The second match of the night was between hosts, Dabang Delhi, and title contendors, Telugu Titans. Telugu Titans were looking to go on top of the Pro Kabaddi League 2015 standings whereas Dabang Delhi were looking to close the gap on the top four. Telugu Titans took an early lead but a 2 point raid from Rohit Kumar Chaudhary helped his side close the gap. Post eleven minutes, Telugu Titans lead 7-6 and a super raid of 4 points from Sukesh Hegde extended their lead to 5 points. He was injured during the raid and had to be substituted. At the same time, Dabang Delhi chose to make a substitution by bringing in Selvamani K for G S Manikandan. And what a substitution it was as Selvamani started off with a 4 point super raid of his own. Dabang Delhi overturned inflicted the first all-out of the match by catching hold of Deepak Niwas Hudda. Both teams took a point here and there until a 2 point raid from Kashiling Adake helped Dabang Delhi take a lead of 2 points at halftime. This raid was successfully attempted under immense pressure from Kashiling Adake as he was looking to avoid an all-out for his side. Kashiling Adake was looking to inflict a second all-out on Telugu Titans early in the second half but a strong tackle from Deepak Niwas Hudda and Sukesh Hegde foiled his attempts resulting in a super tackle. After 27 minutes, Telugu Titans were down to three men and Kashiling Adake was successful in reducing their team to a lone Meraj Sheykh. Meraj Sheykh, known for troubling the Indian national team at the 2014 Asian Games Final, was on song and successfully revived 2 of his own team mates. He was at it again and made another superb raid of 2 points. Telugu Titans were facing an all-out at 34 minutes but substitute, Rupesh Tomar, made a successful 2 point raid of his own. This raid helped Telugu Titans to take the lead by a minuscule point. Down to 3 men, Kashiling Adake came in and inflicted an all-out single handedly earning his side 5 points in the process. Kashiling was on fire, scorching the mat with his moves and dodges. This was a game of many lead changes especially in the last 5 minutes. Down by a point, Rahul Chaudhari made a super raid to give his side the lead. Kashiling Adake came in for a do-or-die raid and oh what a magnificent raid it was. A dash was dodged exquisitely by him before running into the lobby to get 3 points for a super raid. Now, Dabang Delhi had a single point lead. In the penultimate minute, Rahul Chaudhari touched 2 Dabang Delhi defenders to give his side the lead. Kashiling Adake was on the precipice of something great. He came in to raid and made a fantastic super raid to give side the lead and more importantly, etch his name in history. He was now a record holder in Kabaddi for having earned most raid points in a singlematch. Deepak Niwas Hudda came in to salvage something for his side as they were down by 2 points. He managed to get a touch point before quickly retreating back into his own half to save time in order to make a raid again. This tactic of saving time did not work as Kashiling Adake, star of the hour, came in for the buzzer raid. Looking to just cross the baulk line to make a legal raid and get his side the win, Kashiling Adake looked to have managed to get a touch point. He claimed for it as well. The umpire seemed to have given in but protests from the entire Telugu Titans team made him look at the TV monitors for a video review. The referral was successful and a point was awarded to the Telugu Titans who had earned a third draw in Pro Kabaddi League 2015. Premature celebrations from Kashiling Adake turned into distraught as he swore on the mat about making a touch on Deepak Niwas Hudda. The Telugu Titans could be seen celebrating in the background as they jumped to top spot in the rankings. Kashiling Adake was no doubt the star performer of the match with 24 raid points but was not able to help his team across the line. Dabang Delhi could not make the most of home advantage and with the action shifting to Bengaluru, the Bulls will certainly look to consolidate their position in the top 4 of the Pro Kabaddi League 2015 standings.

Pro Kabaddi League 2015 - Jaipur Pink Panthers humble home side Dabang Delhi

After a thumping win against Patna Pirates, Dabang Delhi looked for another win against Jaipur Pink Panthers to keep them in contention for a top 4 spot at the Thyagraj Sports Complex in Delhi. Indian Ocean lead singer, Rahul Ram, sang the national anthem in the nation's capital. The start was very slow as both teams failed to score a point in the first two minutes. Jaipur Pink Panthers then got off to a flyer thanks to Rajesh Narwal and Jasvir Singh. Jaipur Pink Panthers went into halftime with a lead of 18-9. Kashiling Adake was the solo performer for his side. Jaipur Pink Panthers opened the second half by inflicting an all-out on Dabang Delhi to stretch their lead to 13 points. Jaipur Pink Panthers inflicted another all-out in the 25th minute to gain a massive lead of 21 points. Even the best defender of Pro Kabaddi League 2015, Ravinder Pahal, missed multiple tackles. Dabang Delhi defense crumbled in a heap as they were all-out for the fourth time or was it the third. I’ve lost count of it thanks to their blow hot blow cold form. Jaipur Pink Panthers were in championship winning form and finally inflicted a 51-21 heartbreaking loss on Dabang Delhi. Rajesh Narwal wasabsolutely untouchable and looked in supreme form earning a total of 19 points in the game. He was brilliantly supported by Jasvir Singh who earned 9 raid points. Kashiling Adake looked like the only player who showed up for Dabang Delhi as he earned a handsome 9 raid points for a losing cause. With this win, Jaipur Pink Panthers jumped back to fourth spot and in contention for a semi-final spot. With U Mumba and Telugu Titans having virtually secured the top two positions, the fight for third and fourth positions in the Pro Kabaddi League 2015 standings will be an interesting one.

Pro Kabaddi League 2015 - U Mumba win again to make it 9 out of 10, Dabang Delhi hammer Patna Pirates

Day 22 of Pro Kabaddi League 2015 and U Mumba looked to bounce back from the back of a defeat. Bhupinder Singh started again in the absence of Shabeer Bapu and proved why he is doing so by earning 6 raid points on the night. Anup Kumar had the same tally as he led his side to an easy 31-17 win over Bengal Warriors. Mohit Chillar was outstanding in defense with his 4 tackle points. With this win, U Mumba jumped back to top spot in the Pro Kabaddi League 2015 standings and not even the raiding duo of Jang Kun Lee and Mahendra Ganesh Rajput could put their side back into contention. Bengal Warriors are languishing in seventh spot and do not look like making it to the knockout stages of Pro Kabaddi League 2015. U Mumba have won nine matches out of their ten and sit comfortably with a three point lead and a game in hand. 

Dabang Delhi faced the resurgent Patna Pirates in a home game at Thyagraj Sports Complex in Pro Kabaddi League 2015. The first minute was very dull and this made Kashiling Adake spring into action as he earned a quick 3 points from his riad. Deepak Narwal brought his side on level terms at 4-4 after six minutes but another 3-point raid from Rohit Kumar Chaudhary increased his side’s advantage. Dabang Delhi inflicted the first all-out on Patna Pirates in the ninth minute. Kashiling Adake seemed to be on fire scorching the mat with another two raids for a collective 7 points as his side led 17-7. This included a super raid of 4 points. Dabang Delhi went into the break leading 26-11. Both teams started the second half on a defensive foot. Now it was Ravinder Pahal’s time to join the party who made a herculean super tackle on Sandeep Narwal. Rohit Kumar Chaudhary didn’t want to be left behind as he got a super raid to enforce a third all-out on Patna Pirates. Kashiling Adake was the star performer of the match with 12 points. With such monumental events, Dabang Delhi thumped Patna Pirates 45-26 and closed the gap on their opponents. Patna Pirates remain in fourth position inspite of this loss.

Pro Kabaddi League 2015 - Bengal Warriors' inconsequential win over Dabang Delhi, Patna Pirates win to close gap on top 4

Day 21 of Pro Kabaddi League 2015 saw a battle between two teams languishing in the bottom half of the table. Daler Mehndi was also present to view this exciting Indian sport of Kabaddi and performed his own rendition of the national anthem. Arwind Kejriwal was also sitting in support of his home side, Dabang Delhi and was confident enough to predict a win for them. Dabang Delhi took on Bengal Warriors and looked for a win in order to challenge for a top four spot. In their way stood the defense minded Bengal Warriors. The first half was very tight as Dabang Delhi lead by a solitary point at 9-8. The second half was the same as Bengal Warriors chalked out a 20-17 win over Dabang Delhi. Both the sides had their defense earning points for them as they managed to tick the scoreboard. Sachin Khambe and Ravinder Pahal were game changers for their teams in defense. The only consolation for Dabang Delhi was a solitary point for them for not having lost the game by more than seven points. 

The second tie saw Patna Pirates take on Bengaluru Bulls. This seemed to be a night of close contests as Patna Pirates managed to capture this contest 30-28. Bengaluru Bulls took a lead of 3 points into halftime and Manjeet Chillar looked to be on fire. He scored 8 points for a losing cause as there was not much support from his peers. D Suresh Kumar was the hero in defense for Patna Pirates as he supported his captain, Sandeep Narwal, exquisitely to get his side across the finish line. Sandeep Narwal enforced an all-out on the Bengaluru Bulls thanks to two touch points from a single raid. Not even a super raid from Manjeet Chillar could stop his side from being beaten.

Pro Kabaddi League 2015 - U Mumba's Winning Run finally stopped, Telugu Titans draw their 2nd match with Puneri Paltan

It is a fantastic Friday in Pro Kabaddi League 2015 and the first match was a repeat of last year’s final between Jaipur Pink Panthers and U Mumba. U Mumba came into this match with 8 straight wins and were looking to make it 9 but in their tracks stood Jaipur Pink Panthers. If they had any chance of making it to the semi-finals, it would mean halting U Mumba in their tracks and the onus was on their defence due to the off-colour raider Jasvir Singh lacking form. The first half was pretty lackluster from a raider’s perspective as they returned empty handed or were tackled on most occasions. The absence of Shabeer Bapu hit U Mumba as they could only manage a paltry 4 raid points in the first half. U Mumba trailed Jaipur Pink Panthers 15-11 at halftime. Known as the comeback kings, U Mumba failed in the second half as well ultimately losing the game 35-25. Anup Kumar’s miserly 2 points from 14 raids told the story. His counterpart Jasvir Singh was also out of form but thanks to the birthday boy, Rajesh Narwal, and Sonu Narwal, Jaipur Pink Panthers managed to maintain a sustainable lead till the final whistle. In spite of Jeeva Kumar’s absence, U Mumba’s defense was as sound as usual but their offence could not make the most of their opportunities. Jaipur Pink Panthers’ trio of Kuldeep Singh, Prashant Chavan and Ran Singh were brilliant in defense as they made the experienced and skilled U Mumba raiders childish. Jaipur Pink Panthers have jumped to fourth spot with 21 points in the Pro Kabaddi League 2015 standings and will look to maintain this position in order to qualify for the knockouts. 

The second match of the night was between Telugu Titans and Puneri Paltan. The side from Hyderabad didn’t look like title contenders in the first eight minutes as they were all-out and trailed 4-12. Wazir Singh simply looked untouchable during this duration but Telugu Titans fought out of their skin to bring the score level at 16-16 in the seventeenth minute. Sukesh Hegde and Deepak Niwas Hudda were the culprits of inflicting an all-out on the Puneri Paltan in this comeback. Puneri Paltan went into halftime with a meager 2 point lead. The second half was a cagier affair as both teams played safe and didn’t give much to the other. Telugu Titans managed to eke out a draw thanks to a superb raiding performance from Sukesh Hegde and Deepak Niwas Hudda. Sukesh Hegde had 9 points from his raids with 3 successful do-or-die raids inclusive of a super raid. Deepak Niwas Hudda also supported him aptly as he scored 7 points for his side. The duo performed exceedingly well and made up for the inability of Rahul Chaudhari. Wazir Singh was the lone warrior for his side as he scored 10 raid points consisting of a super raid. The last minute was the best I’ve seen in a kabaddi game as Puneri Paltan lead 29-27. With the game virtually in the bag, Prashant Rai stepped up for Telugu Titans and scored a point for his side. The experienced Pravin Niwale came in for the buzzer raid and looked to make a legal raid before returning back to his half but was tackled by the Telugu Titans defense and scores were level. Telugu Titans climbed up to the number 1 spot in the Pro Kabaddi League 2015 standings over U Mumba having played two games more.

Pro Kabaddi League 2015 - Bengaluru Bulls humble Bengal Warriors, Telugu TItans annihilate Patna Pirates

Day 3 of the Hyderabad leg at Gachibowli Indoor stadium in Pro Kabaddi League 2015 and we have two mouth-watering clashes. First up, Bengal Warriors were up against the Bengaluru Bulls. Bengal Warriors, having never won a single game against the Bengaluru Bulls were looking to reverse this trend. Prakash Raj was waving at the camera as the game started. Mahendra Ganesh Rajput was slotted directly into the starting line-up after his terrific performance against the Telegu Titans and he continued from where he had left off by getting the first raid point of the match. Ajay Thakur was doing the bulk of the raiding for Bengaluru Bulls and earned a mammoth 7 points in the first half as his side lead 16-10. They went on stretching their 6 point lead and in the35th minute enforced an all-out on Bengal Warriors. The score was 28-17 in favour of Bengaluru Bulls and they had virtually put the game out of Bengal Warriors’ reach. As soon as the team was back on court, Ajay Thakur stepped in and earned 3 points for his side with a super raid. The game ended at 33-22 and the Bengaluru Bulls had convincingly defeated the Bengal Warriors again. Ajay Thakur led the march for the Bulls with 12 points and was brilliantly supported by his captain Manjeet Chillar. Chillar and his men registered their sixth win and now sit comfortably in 3^rd spot in the Pro Kabaddi League 2015 standings. 

The second match of the day was between home side, Telugu Titans, and a Rakesh Kumar-less Patna Pirates. After total annihilation of the Bengal Warriors, they looked to repeat that on the Patna Pirates. Sandeep Narwal started the game and was looking as his usual energetic self. That energy was subdued as he was tackled in less than 10 seconds for probably the fastest tackle of Pro Kabaddi League 2015.

Pullela Gopichand was also seen enjoying the action. Patna Pirates were off to a dismal start and were all-out at the 5-minute mark and trailed 5-11. Things only got worse for the Patna Pirates as they were all-out for the second time at the 9 minute mark. Sandeep Narwal stepped into the lobby looking to fool the Telugu Titans into following suit but they were smarter than given credit for. This led to the second all out and Patna Pirates trailed the Telugu Titans by 15 points. Meraj Sheykh was captaining the Telugu Titans and looked to join in the fun. He got two successful raids in the first half and both were astonishingly, super raids of 4 pointseach. 18 year old raider, Sandeep, also known as the baby-faced assassin was also in supreme touch as he got an ankle hold on Patna Pirates’ Deepak Narwal. This ankle hold enforced the third all-out on Patna Pirates. Mind you, we were still in the first half and three minutes remained on the clock. Telugu Titans went into half-time leading 38-12. Only one minute into the second half and Patna Pirates were all-out for the fourth time which is most likely, a record for most all-outs for a single team in a game. Patna Pirates inflicted an all-out of their own on the Telugu Titans but it was too little too late as Telugu Titans ran away with the game. They won by a thumping 22 point margin and this was probably the best display of attacking Kabaddi by a team in Pro Kabaddi League 2015. Meraj Sheykh did a back-flip at full time and was clearly over the moon as his side won. Rahul Chaudhari was given the green arm-band, a sign of being the best raider so far in Pro Kabaddi League 2015, before the match and showed why he was the right person to don it. He earned a massive 11 points and so did Meraj Sheykh as they took Patna Pirates to the cleaners. Although the attack of Telugu Titans has been on song, they have been capitalizing on the mistakes of their opponents. This will be tested when they face U Mumba again who are a side that make less mistakes. I believe these two will be the finalists of Pro Kabaddi League 2015 unless Bengaluru Bulls can do something about it.