The final of the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup was a stellar showdown between the two powerhouses of the sport - India and Iran, but it was India who emerged on top in the nail-biting encounter with the scoreline of 38-29.
India had a forgettable first half, where Iran had secured a lead, but it was followed by a brilliant and undoubtedly unforgettable second half, where India staged a mighty comeback on the back of Ajay Thakur’s onslaught.
#5 India’s conservative style of play in the first half
There was a lack of an aggressive approach in the Indian attack in the first half, and they relied on the do-or-die raid, which more often than not did not go in their favour.
With Pardeep Narwal and Ajay Thakur on the bench, courtesy of unsuccessful raids, where they failed to clinch any touch points and forayed deep into the Iranian defense, the onus was on Anup Kumar to bail the team out of trouble.
However, all he could manage was the rare bonus point from the left corner manned by Fazel Atrachali, which was not enough. Even when Rahul Chaudhari and Nitin Tomar came on as substitute raiders, they too perished in front of the Irani wall, and consequently, the Indian team suffered an impending an All-out in the first half itself.
#4 Lack of a Do-or-Die specialist, India trailed after the first 20 minutes
When in trouble, a raider can amass points in a heap and ensure that the scoreboard keeps ticking. However, India who banked on the strategy of playing on the third raid, failed to understand the fact that they had no player who could assume the role of being an out-and-out raider, someone who could go in for the do-or-die raid, where there is no room for error.
The fact that India had won all their group stage matches by big margins meant that there was no need for one player to assume that role.
However, this hurt their cause in the humdinger against Iran, where in all likelihood, the in-form man Ajay should have been the go-to man, but his failure to fire in the first 20 resulted in India lagging by 5 points when they went into the break.
#3 Meraj Sheykh played to perfection, his absence hurt the Iranians
Be it raids, or playing a part in the defence, executing strategies to avoid leakage of bonus points for Anup Kumar or just staying on court and marshalling his troops, Meraj Sheykh was on point and played his role as skipper perfectly.
However, this was the case only in the first half, while the second half, he spent an increasing amount of time on the bench which resulted in a depleted Iranian team.
There was a lack of a guiding force in his absence, a lack of points off raids which resulted in a couple of All-out’s that rendered his team hapless and out of reach of the Indians, who went on to claim a 10 point lead at one stage.
#2 The defence and Nitin Tomar come to the party for India!
Taking encouragement from the attack, which came roaring into action in the second half, the defence also backed up the raiders. Surjeet with his strong body blocks and Sandeep Narwal with his mighty hold claimed 5 points to reduce the Iranian team on the mat.
An unexpected man who shone in the finale was young star Nitin Tomar, who came on as a substitute and clinched 6 points on his successful raid attempts.
He combined with Ajay Thakur in Pardeep Narwal’s absence to form yet another lethal duo which left the rival defence clueless.
#1 Ajay Thakur – A man on fire
If there is one man who single-handedly lifted the spirit and game for the Indians, it was Ajay Thakur! Using his height to advantage, the tall raider came into his own in the second half and claimed yet another Super 10 – his fifth in a row – ripping, what seemed to be an unbreakable Iranian defence, apart.
With his running hand touch and foot touches, he sent most of the menacing defenders – from Fazel Atrachali to Meraj Sheykh, to the bench. His exploits, 12 points in total, were also the key in India inflicting All-out’s on Iran. He bagged points in heaps on successive raids, to not only get the lead for the home team, but also denting the Iranian cause in the process.
