Pro Kabaddi: Dabang Delhi go down 26-21 against all-round Puneri Paltan
DEEPAK HOODA led Puneri Paltan comfortably overcame Dabang Delhi 26-21 to mark two of two wins in the fifth edition of Pro Kabaddi League. The Dabangs suffered their second defeat after beating Jaipur Pink Panthers in their opening tie.
In the early minutes of the match, Deepak Hooda and Rajesh Mondal scored raid points off their first raids. Following an unsuccessful raid from skipper Meraj Sheykh, Pune led 3-0 after three minutes in the game. The match progressed slowly as raiders from both sides played cautiously and took calculated risks.
It was surprising to see Meraj Sheykh come from the bench time and again and go for do-or-die raids. The Iranian’s dismal performance continued from the last game as he spent most of the time off the mat after making two unsuccessful raids in the first 10 minutes. Debutant Shubham Ashok Palkar raided in tandem with Anand Patil to lead Delhi’s attack in absence of Meraj.
After consecutive successful raids from Deepak Hooda aka. ‘Raiding Machine’, Puneri Paltans lead 11-7 at half-time. Dabang Delhi rode on in-form Anand Patil’s quick raiding in the second half and equalised at 13-13 in the 5th minute with a well-timed Super Tackle. However, Rajesh Mondal and Deepak Hooda helped Paltans inflict all-out and regain a three-point lead.
Pune extended their lead as Meraj failed to find his missing link. After 10 minutes in the second half, Delhi looked unsettled as they trailed 22-16. The strong Puneri defenders in Dharamraj Cherlathan, Sandeep Narwal and Girish Ernak kept the Delhi raider at bay while Mondal kept scoring raid points. The later proved to be Pune’s go-to man as he scored points in do-or-die raids as well as in the defence. Delhi took home a point after keeping the deficit under seven points.
Puneri Paltans Playing 7:
All Rounder: Deepak Hooda
Defender: Ravi Kumar
All Rounder: Sandeep Narwal
Raider: Rajesh Mondal
Raider: More GB
Defender: Dharamraj Cheralathan
Defender: Girish Maruti Ernak
Substitutes:
Defender: Ziaur Rahman
Raider: Rohit Kumar Chaudhary
Raider: Monu
Defender: Rinku Narwal
Raider: Suresh Kumar
Dabang Delhi Playing 7:
Raider: Anand Patil
Defender: Bajirao Hodage
Defender: Viraj Vishnu Landge
Raider: Shubham Ashok Palkar
All Rounder: Meraj Sheykh
Defender: Nilesh Shinde
Defender: Sunil
Substitutes:
Raider: Abolfazl Maghsodlou
All Rounder: Rupesh Tomar
Raider: Yatharth
Defender: Swapnil Shinde
Raider: R. Sriram
Le Panga:
Rajesh Mondal: The star raider looked lethal right from the moment he took the mat to raid. Mondal displayed his tactical edge by spending most of the match on the mat after getting just one unsuccessful raid. Out of 13 raids, the senior raider scored right touch points.
Anand Patil: He was Delhi’s only raider to get some amount of success against a fierce Puneri Paltan defence. Anand led the Dabang attack at most times and emerged as the most successful raider of the match. He made 22 raids and scored eight points from them.
No Panga:
Meraj Sheykh: It was yet another day to forget for the Delhi skipper. Similar to his performance against Gujarat, Meraj spent most of the match time on the bench. He looked indecisive as he took part in most of the do-or-die raids and failed to get anything out it. The Iranian all-rounder scored no raid point and was unsuccessful in four out nine raids. Meraj made no contribution in the defence as he made three unsuccessful tackles. The only way for Meraj from here is up.
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