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Season 7 of Pro Kabaddi League has reached its knockout stages. At the end of the league stage, six teams qualified for the playoffs.
Dabang Delhi K.C. and Bengal Warriors earned a direct ticket to the semi-finals by virtue of finishing as the top two teams in the group stages. Bengaluru Bulls and U Mumba won the eliminators and will join Delhi and Bengal in the semi-finals.
Defense is an important aspect in the game of kabaddi. Although raiders can earn points in a heap, without a watertight defense in place, teams usually suffer from inconsistency and become vulnerable.
On that note, here are the top 3 teams with the highest number of tackle points in the league stage.
#3 Jaipur Pink Panthers - 240 Points
Jaipur Pink Panthers started this season on a good note. The inaugural-edition champions dominated teams with their effective performances and remained at the top of the table for a while at the start of this season.
However, apart from Deepak Niwas Hooda, none of the other raiders in the Jaipur team were able to remain consistent on the mat. Hence, the team lost a few important games as the season progressed.
The defensive unit of Jaipur Pink Panthers tried their best to bring the team back on track with its impressive performances. Led by the talented left-corner Sandeep Kumar Dhull and the experienced Amit Hooda, the Jaipur-based franchise proved to be one of the best defensive units in the competition.
Although Jaipur will take back the defensive performance as one of the positives from this edition, they will consider the lack of depth in the raiding unit as the main reason for finishing in the bottom half of the table.
Major Contributors (Tackle Points):
Sandeep Kumar Dhull - 73
Amit Hooda - 44
#2 UP Yoddha - 246 Points
Although UP Yoddha started this season on a disappointing note, the Nitesh Kumar-led franchise made a few changes to its playing combination as the tournament progressed, and climbed up to the No. 3 position on the points table at the end of the league stage.
The Nitesh Kumar-Sumit duo was one of the main reasons for UP Yoddha to do well defensively this season. The corner defenders stitched a wonderful partnership on the mat and supported each other with well-executed tackles on the opposition raiders. This duo was ably supported by Amit and Ashu Singh in the cover positions.
UP Yoddha failed to defeat Bengaluru Bulls in the Eliminator 1 at the EKA Arena. However, after a strong show this season, this team can go home with a sense of satisfaction.
Major Contributors (Tackle Points):
Sumit - 72
Nitesh Kumar - 75
#1 Puneri Paltan - 264 Points
With 264 points from 22 games, Puneri Paltan finished the league stage as the team with the maximum number of tackle points. However, owing to the inconsistency of the raiders, the team failed to grab a spot in the playoffs.
At the start of this season, a good defensive show was expected from Anup Kumar's men as the team had forged a spectacular Surjeet Singh-Girish Maruti Ernak combination in this department.
Although Singh was decent with his performances, Ernak had a poor tournament and therefore, the youngsters in the Pune team had to step up. Players such as Jadhav Shahaji, Shubham Shinde and Hadi Tajik did well and made a name for themselves with their impressive performances on the mat.
In what was a largely unsatisfactory season, Anup Kumar might target the raiding unit as the main area for improvement before the start of the next season.
Major Contributors (Tackle Points):
PO Surjeet Singh - 63
Jadhav Shahaji - 36
