Dabang Delhi rout Patna Pirates to keep play-off hopes alive

STUNG BY THE UNEXPECTED DEFEAT against Bengal Warriors, Dabang Delhi roared back to defeat Patna Pirates 45-25 and keep their hopes of a play-off berth in season 2 of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi alive. Two super raiders- the already established Kashiling Adake and the upcoming star Rohit Kumar Choudhary led Dabang Delhi to a thumping win against the Pirates.

It all started with Kashiling Adake setting the stands alight with his first raid, getting three for the first super raid of the match. There were four super raids in the match in all, with Kashiling coming up with the best. He got four of his rivals dismissed while the other two were scored by Rohit.To add to the Pirates woes the rival corner defenders Rakesh Bhardwaj and Ravinder Pahal too were in an aggressive mood with the former for once out shining his more esteemed captain. The Pirates’ defence never threatened though Manikandan and Girish Ernak got stray points.

The three all-outs the Pirates suffered in the 9th,13th and 35th however proved to be one less than they faced against the Telugu Titans in Hyderabad where they were dismissed thrice in the first half itself. The margin of defeat then was 22 points and they did slightly better today by keeping it down to 20 points.

Kashiling also was on the verge of at least equalling if not bettering the record of the individual highest tally held jointly by Rahul Chaudhari of Telugu Titans and Mahendra Rajput of Bengal Warriors. Rakesh Singh Kumar had a tally of six catching points with one super tackle on Deepak Narwal who put up a semblance of a fight today, scoring seven including a bonus point. His captain Sandeep Narwal was having a quiet night as it all went downhill for the Pirates afterwards.

Prior to their victorious outing, the Dabang Delhi team had the opportunity to interact with the poster boy of Indian football, Sunil Chhetri. The ace footballer, who hails from the capital city himself, exchanged valuable insight from his sport, football as well as gained knowledge from the experienced kabaddi players in the Delhi outfit. Concluding the interaction with the players, he said, “It is more important to contribute your 100% and give your best than a win. Knowing that you have done all you could to be the best team that you could be is the best feeling in the world. Winning the game adds to that feeling.”