Pardeep Narwal's pain, Tamil Thalaivas' gain: A breakdown of Pro Kabaddi 2022's tiebreaker that lit up the UP vs TT Eliminator

If any of you thought that the Pro Kabaddi 2022 season, after 132 league stage matches, had nothing left in the tank to put on a show for the fans in the PKL 9 playoffs, oh well, how wrong you were!

After a relatively boring (yes, that's what we call one-sided contests in the PKL) Eliminator 1 where the Bengaluru Bulls forced Dabang Delhi into booking an early flight back home courtesy of a 32-point pounding, fans who thronged the NSCI Stadium in Mumbai were treated to a spectacle in Eliminator 2.

UP Yoddhas skipper Pardeep Narwal was subject to a 'surprise tackle' in the dying seconds of the match when he was just looking to put in a legitimate raid, and with 15 seconds left on the clock, Tamil Thalaivas skipper Ajinkya Pawar took what looked like a stroll in the park to kill time and turn the NSCI into a cauldron of noise.

It wouldn't be criminal to assume that 75-80% of the crowd in attendance were there to cheer on Pardeep, but when the UP captain was enveloped by the Thalaivas' defensive unit to level scores 36-36, it wasn't just about that one man anymore.

Everyone knew what was coming - a tiebreaker to decide who was going into the last four. More importantly, the tiebreaker's rules were a lot more exciting, and it is that very 'excitement' factor that drives sport and its audience.

So the rules of the tiebreaker were quite out of the box, with 5 different raiders per team needing to put in one raid each and the baulk line manifesting into the bonus line. There's a good chance I could go on and on about how exciting the rules were given the variables, but check out the link below for all the details.

Pro Kabaddi 2022: What happens if a playoffs match ends in a tie?

So we now circle back to all the action on the mat.

Within seconds of the match ending in a tie, Pro Kabaddi League technical director E Prasad Rao was waving his arms about instructing all the referees to bring out all the paper and pens they had in their storage. Teams were asked to list down the seven players who were going to take to the mat and also declare the order of raiding.

UP, as expected, went with two lead raiders and two all-rounders - Pardeep Narwal, Surender Gill, Nitesh Kumar, Sumit Sangwan, Ashu Singh, Rohit Tomar, Sandeep Narwal.

Tamil Thalaivas coach Ashan Kumar, with a young brigade to bank on, swapped out left corner Sahil Gulia for all-rounder Himanshu. The Thalaivas' 7 for the tiebreaker read - Narender Kandola, Ajinkya Pawar, Arpit Saroha, Himanshu, Himanshu Singh, M Abishek, Mohit

On paper, it seemed as if the Yoddhas had enough ammunition to give the Thalaivas a hard time in the 10-raid knockout. In reality, though, it was quite the opposite. The Thalaivas were to raid first given they raided first in the match, and here's how it all transpired.

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Raid #1: Himanshu (Tamil Thalaivas)

Tamil Thalaivas chose three left raiders for the tiebreaker, and the first man to go in was Himanshu. He could barely even get close to the baulk line though, with Nitesh's strong ankle hold met by a strong block from Ashu.

UP 1 - 0 TT

Raid #2: Pardeep Narwal (UP Yoddhas)

In walked Pardeep as per his usual style of lifting up his shoulders and making eye contact with all the defenders in one go. The crowd, as expected, threw all their weight behind the UP skipper, expecting him to produce magic.

The real rabbit out of the hat, though, came through a surreal frontal block from Thalaivas' cover Mohit, who ran in from the left cover and stood in Pardeep's path with his arms wrapped around the star raider's shoulders. Soon enough, Ajinkya and Arpit came in for support, and Pardeep was stopped in his tracks, much to the shock of the UP faithful.

UP 1 - 1 TT

Raid #3: Mohit (Tamil Thalaivas)

Right after producing one of the blocks of the match, Mohit was trusted with the responsibility of picking up a raid point - sent in ahead of their lead raiders Narender and Ajinkya.

Confidence, though, does wonders for a person, and Mohit's raid was the perfect explainer. Within seconds of entering the UP half, Mohit produced a side kick that caught left corner Sumit completely off guard, pocketing a crucial point to give the Thalaivas a 1-point lead.

Mohit's celebration was restricted to just a thigh 5 with his left arm aloft, for he knew the match was not even close to being done. Sumit, on the other hand, couldn't believe his luck, clapping his hands in agony and blowing out a mouthful of air in disbelief.

UP 1 - 2 TT

Raider #4: Sandeep Narwal (UP Yoddhas)

'The Beast' Sandeep Narwal was next in action, and a lot of UP's hopes rested on the veteran all-rounder. Narwal stepped up against left corner Himanshu, who was drawn into a weak ankle hold that gifted an easy point to the Yoddhas.

Narwal wasn't done though. After slipping away from the ankle hold, he sprinted to his left seeking more from the other defenders, but Himanshu was quick enough to sense the danger and wrestled Narwal back into his own half.

UP 2 - 2 TT

Raider #5: Narender (Tamil Thalaivas)

Narender was sent in next by the Thalaivas, and at the start of the raid, it seemed as if right corner Nitesh and his partner Rohit Tomar were not going to let Narender get away easily.

However, after a couple of fakes, Nitesh and Tomar retreated, giving Narender enough space to eke out a bonus or even do some gardening there, if he desired. The teenager feasted on the opportunity and picked up the bonus, even going back a second time to ensure there was no error on his part.

While it seemed as if the ploy seemed majorly flawed, UP coach Jasveer Singh later said in the press conference that the idea was to ensure that they didn't give him more than one touch point - which could have been the case if the defenders went in for a tackle.

UP 2 - 3 TT

Raider #6: Rohit Tomar (UP Yoddhas)

Rohit Tomar was tasked by the Yoddhas to level scores and credit to the youngster, and he tried. A side kick on the right corner followed by a flying hand touch on Mohit both ended up futile, and when Arpit opened up a little space for Tomar to try for a bonus, yet again, Mohit struck with a frontal block.

Tomar failed to generate enough strength to break through the block, and with the Thalaivas' defenders throwing themselves at the youngster, he was as good as gone.

UP 2 - 4 TT

Raider #7: Ajinkya Pawar (Tamil Thalaivas)

Up next was Thalaivas' crisis man, Pawar. In Pro Kabaddi 2022 so far, he's made a name for himself with 6-point and 7-point raids, but all he needed here was to score at least one point.

The immediate challenge was to overcome Nitesh Kumar's threat on the right corner, which he did with a rapid bonus attempt. Nitesh, furious at his team for not attacking, cleared up more space for Pawar to even use enough time for a mini dance and confirm the bonus which swelled Thalaivas' lead to 3 points.

UP 2 - 5 TT

Raider #8: Ashu Singh (UP Yoddhas)

With a 3-point lead in their kitty, the plan was straightforward for the Thalaivas. Ashu came in for the raid, and Mohit was right there to sacrifice himself for the team's cause. Without wasting a single second, the Thalaivas' cover pushed Ashu back into his own half, handing the Yoddhas an easy point but in the process foiled their plans of a multi-point raid.

UP 3 - 5 TT

Raider #9: Himanshu Singh (Tamil Thalaivas)

For their last raid of the tiebreaker, Himanshu Singh was the trusted choice, and the youngster made the most of the gap right in the middle of the defence to eke out a bonus. The gap was due to Pardeep's absence, not from the mat but in general because he doesn't tackle.

The Yoddhas, shell-shocked at the referee's decision to give the bonus, all cried out for a review, but in the end, the attempt was clear as day.

UP 3 - 6 TT

Raider #10: Surender Gill (UP Yoddhas)

Surender's task was simple in the final raid to keep his team alive in the Pro Kabaddi 2022 playoffs. He needed to produce nothing short of a Super Raid, and by his lofty standards, the mandate wasn't out of reach.

However, getting past Yoddhas' biggest obstacle on the night, a man named Mohit, was close to impossible. Even before the whistle was blown to start the raid, Mohit stood his ground close to the midline, ready to use all his might to push Surinder back.

Not only did he push him, Mohit also entered the UP half and exited with a thigh 5 and a celebration for the ages as the Yoddhas camp had looks of disbelief writ large over their faces.

Pro Kabaddi 2022 Eliminator Result: Tamil Thalaivas won 6-4

So, for the 5th season running, the UP Yoddhas failed to get past the playoffs and lay their hands on the coveted trophy. Adding to that, Pardeep's missed target of finishing with more than 1600 raid points at the end of the season all cumulatively meant it was a night to forget for the Yoddhas faithful.

For the Thalaivas, the victory in the tiebreaker, that too with such a young side was yet another bright chapter added to their success story that has come under the famed direction of coach Ashan Kumar.

Tamil Thalaivas will next face off against the Puneri Paltan on 15th December 2022 in the second semifinal of PKL 9.