Pro Kabaddi League 2021: Naveen Kumar headlines opening week of PKL 8-Sports News , Firstpost

Naveen Kumar became the youngest and fastest to reach 500 raid points in the Pro Kabaddi League. Image: Pro Kabaddi

When you peel off the layer of glitz, shut out the commentators who never seem to run out of hyperbole, you see the primal appeal of kabaddi. That penny-drop moment came early on – in the first half of the first match of the season. Abhishek Singh was the sole active player for U Mumba on the mat when he went into raid. But as the Bengaluru Bulls defence closed in on him, Abhishek leapfrogged them and reached past the half-line. The four-point raid made sure his team went into half-time with a comfortable lead.

The Pro Kabaddi League, as we know it, was back with lights and drama, thrills and spills. The League, which had to be cancelled because of the pandemic last year, resumed on 22 December in a bio-secure bubble at the Sheraton Grand, Whitefield hotel in Bengaluru.

With almost two years of inaction, most teams are still settling in. So are the players. But in a much-altered world, they have been able to hold on to the excitement of the past seven editions.

Naveen spearheads Delhi challenge

Having reached their first final in PKL 7 in 2019, Delhi hit the ground running this time around. With Naveen Kumar leading the charge, Delhi are the only unbeaten team this week. Currently, they lead the standings with 13 points in three matches.

Naveen had joined the team as the New Young Player in 2018. And the raider has risen in stature with every edition. He has scored three Super 10s in three matches so far, making it 24 Super 10s in a row in the League. During Delhi’s 31-27 win over U Mumba, where Naveen picked up 16 raid points, he became the youngest and fastest to reach 500 raid points in the League.

Two days later, he steered his team to a tie (24-24 with Gujarat Giants) with the last raid of the match. He has the most number of raid points so far – 42.

Biggest win of the week

The opening match of season 8 has turned out to be the most lopsided affair of the week so far. With Abhishek Singh in top gear and Fazel Atrachali organising their defence cannily, U Mumba scored a 46-30 win over the Bengaluru Bulls.

Abhishek, the only experienced raider in the U Mumba line-up, finished the game with 19 raid points. But the Mumbai franchise’s defence absorbed the blows from a bullish raiding unit. Though Pawan Sehrawat and Chandran Ranjit both scored Super 10s on the night, U Mumba returned with 13 crucial points in defence to make sure they always stayed in the lead.

But U Mumbai’s inexperience has been exposed since then.

Great expectations

Pardeep Narwal became the league’s most expensive signing in the recent auction. Image: Pro Kabaddi

Even though a price tag of over a crore isn’t that rare in the League anymore, it puts a definite target on the concerned players’ back. This time, all eyes will be trained on Siddharth Desai and the most expensive player in the League’s history Pardeep Narwal.

Pardeep was signed by the UP Yoddha, from Patna Pirates, for a whopping Rs 1.65 crore. A bittersweet reunion was in the offing when the two teams met on 25 December. A strong performance from Pardeep saw him bag 12 points and help his new team edge out his old team 36-35. But the raider is yet to hit top gear in PKL 8. The 24-year-old hasn’t been as sprightly on the mat. The most prolific scorer in the League’s history currently sits at No 11 on the leaderboard with 23 raid points in three matches.

Desai, the only other Crorepati in the League, has made a decent start to PKL 8. He has won 25 raid points, including two Super 10s, in two matches so far, and even helped out with the defence. But Desai hasn’t been able to take his team to victory. While Telugu Titans drew their opening match 40-40 with Tamil Thalaivas, they were pipped to the post by Puneri Paltan 34-33.

Breakthrough star

Apart from winning the inaugural edition of PKL in 2014, the Jaipur Pink Panthers have been serial underachievers. One of the players they have put faith in to bring them back on track is Arjun Deshwal, who is the highest paid Category B player in PKL 8 – Jaipur signed him from U Mumba for Rs 96 lakhs.

And Deshwal has delivered so far. A do-or-die specialist for U Mumba last year, the raider has scored Super 10s in each of the first three matches. He claimed 17 raid points for Jaipur as they beat Haryana Steelers 40-38, and scored 11 raid points during their 32-29 win over the UP Yoddha. Deshwal’s efforts have helped the Panthers climb to No 3 in the standings.

Defensive lapses

When the PKL players regrouped for season 8, they were expected to be a little rusty. The teams are still fine-tuning and that has reflected on their defensive might.

While raiders thrive off individual brilliance, defence takes more teamwork. In the opening week, most teams have had to live with shaky defence. Defenders have tried to rush the game, even in do-or-die raids. A lot of them have stepped outside the field of play, even without overwhelming pressure from the raider. These are the chinks the teams will want to work out as the League progresses.

Results:

22 Dec

Bengal Warriors beat UP Yoddha 38-33

Telugu Titans tied with Tamil Thalaivas 40-40

U Mumba beat Bengaluru Bulls 46-30

23 Dec

Patna Pirates beat Haryana Steelers 42-39

Dabang Delhi beat Puneri Paltan 41-30

Gujarat Giants beat Jaipur Pink Panthers 34-27

24 Dec

Bengal Warriors beat Gujarat Giants 31-28

Bengaluru Bulls beat Tamil Thalaivas 38-30

Dabang Delhi beat U Mumba 31-27

25 Dec

Jaipur Pink Panthers beat Haryana Steelers 40-38

Puneri Paltan beat Telugu Titans 34-33

UP Yoddha beat Patna Pirates 36-35

26 Dec

Bengaluru Bulls beat Bengal Warriors 36-35

Gujarat Giants tied with Dabang Delhi 24-24

27 Dec

U Mumba tied with Tamil Thalaivas 30-30

Jaipur Pink Panthers beat UP Yoddha 32-29