Fazel Atrachali, best defender of Pro Kabaddi League season 4

Season 4 of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League concluded with the Patna Pirates franchise emerging as the winners for the 2nd consecutive season, the only team to achieve this mark. It would not be wrong to say that they had the perfect blend of experience, youth and talent in their squad which propel them to their 2nd PKL title.

If Pardeep Narwal took and executed the responsibility of scoring raid points perfectly, then some credit should go to their Iranian import Fazel Atrachali for organising Patna’s defence into a strong, formidable unit.

Just like Castrol Activ’s Actibonds protect the bike’s engine by clinging together, Fazel helps the Pirates maintain a strong defensive shape with his teammates. His defensive abiliities have taken a lot of pressure away from Pardeep Kumar while raiding, and helped him perform better.

The 24-year old Fazel joined U Mumba at the beginning of season 2, impressing kabaddi fans all over the world with his vigorous ankle and thigh holds in the limited number of opportunities he got in the already settled Mumba starting 7.

The 3rd edition of the PKL proved to be a breakthrough season for the Iranian as he replaced the already settled left corner defender, Surender Nada, who had gone for national duty at the South Asian Games. Atrachali finished the season with a superb tackle conversion rate of 69.7%.

He was instrumental in helping U Mumba achieve a record-breaking run of 11 consecutive victories, leading them to their record 3rd consecutive finals appearance, where they lost the tie to eventual season 3 winners Patna Pirates.

At the start of season 4, Fazel was bought by the defending champions along with battle-hardened vetaran, Dharmaraj Cheralathan, in light of Sandeep Narwal’s departure to the Telugu Titans.

The Iranian import made the left corner positon his own and combined really well with Cheralathan, who played at the right corner in the defending champions’ set-up. His ferocious anke and thigh holds and strong dashes across the mat on the oppositions’ left raiders made him a household name in the world of kabaddi.

As season 4 progressed, Fazel’s partnership with his team’s right corner, ‘Anna,’ became the Patna Pirates’ strength against other teams and, most importantly, took some pressure off their young sensation Pardeep Narwal’s shoulders.

Their partnership was instrumental in the team’s run of 5 straight victories at the start of season 4, before they eventually lost their first game at home at the hands of Dabang Delhi.

Out of all the teams, only Jaipur Pink Panthers were able to do a ‘double’ over the defending champions, but the Pirates got the better of them in the finals.

Fazel Atrachali went on score a mammoth total of 52 tackle points, the maximum for any player in season 4 of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League, at a strike rate of 62.5%, highest among all players in season 4 of PKL.

He also lies second in the list of defenders with most number of super tackles with 7, just 1 shy of Patna Pirates’ leader, Dharamaraj Cheralathan’s 8. He also combined superbly with his fellow Iranian Hadi Oshtorak in the semi-final against Telugu Titans and the final against the Jaipur Pink Panthers, as he helped the Pirates to their 2nd consecutive PKL title.

The Iranian national captained his national side at the 2014 Asian Games and along with his fellow Iranians in Hadi Oshtorak, Meraj Sheykh and Abolfazel, will be eager to come back to this part of the world in order to take part in the World Kabaddi Championships to be held in the month of October.

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