New Delhi: The runner-ups of the last edition of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), Dabang Delhi K.C. started their campaign with a bang as they beat Puneri Paltan 41 – 30 at the Sheraton Grand in Bangalore (December 23). Like the previous seasons, Naveen Kumar was again sensational for Delhi. The prolific raider scored 16 points and was ably matched by his raiding partner Vijay (9 points) as the pair gave Pune defenders a torrid time on the mat.
More than Delhi vs Pune, the match was billed as a head-to-head between two of the country’s top raiders – Delhi’s Naveen Kumar and Pune’s Rahul Chaudhari who looked a bit off-colour comparatively.
The early minutes were a treat to watch for the fans when the raiders showed glimpses of their abilities. Rahul opened the score for Pune but was not able to match the intensity of opponents Delhi.
Naveen clinched points on successive intervals to give tough time to Pune’s players. His fellow mate Vijay played the role of second fiddle and collectively the Delhi duo inflicted the first All Out in the eighth minute to make the scores 10-5 in their favour. The pair of Naveen-Vijay was so good that the veteran Ajay Thakur didn’t even take a single raid.
On the other hand, Paltan’s skipper Nitin Tomar led from the front and made sure his team doesn’t lag behind. At the end of the first half, Delhi went into the changing room with a commendable lead of 22-15.
After getting some words of wisdom from their coach and Kabaddi legend Anup Kumar, Pune attacked the all-rounder Manjeet Chhillar in the second half. The tactic worked for them as Delhi defender’s error allowed Pune to put their foot in the door.
However, the smiles on Pune players' faces didn’t last too long for Naveen again seized the opportunity for Delhi to put them in the driving seat again.
Naveen tackled Rahul Chaudhari and then touched Nitin in three successive moves to shift the momentum back towards Delhi. Moreover, Vijay ensured Dabang’s attack was two-headed with high-quality raids as they inflicted another All Out with five minutes remaining on the clock. Delhi attempted 12 successful raid streaks while Pune could manage only three. In fact, Joginder Narwal’s troops had a better successful raid percentage of 51.16 as compared to Paltans' 42.86.
