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The Patna Pirates clinched their third Pro Kabaddi League title in a row after they defeated the Gujarat Fortunegiants in a nail-biting final that ended 55-38 in favour of the Pirates. Despite what the scoreline might suggest, the match was an extremely hard-fought one and in the second half, the Fortunegiants had a number of opportunities to come back into the game but were denied by a few errors of their own and the brilliance of the Patna skipper, Pardeep Narwal.
The mercurial raider, after a rather tepid start, produced yet another whirlwind performance and ended the match with 19 raid points to his name. He cleaned up the Gujarat defence on two occasions with five-point raids to complete crucial all outs and in the second half, he played a major role in helping his side avoid getting all out, securing touch points while going in as the lone man remaining for his team.
Patna coach Ram Mehar Singh has been full of praise for his star raider throughout the season and has used the services of his talisman well over the course of the last three months. A crucial task for the coach has been keeping Narwal motivated to bring the best out of him and it is safe to say he was on the money in the final as well.
An incident that stood out was what he said to his captain during a timeout in the second half of the final, with the Gujarat side hot on their heels and the pressure on Narwal to help his side avoid the all out. In the TV telecast, Singh was seen pepping up his star man as he said, "Jab tak tu khadaa hai, tab tak koi humaare ko haraa nahi sakta." (As long as you are standing, no team can beat us)
His words had a startling effect on Narwal, who ran riot in the last few minutes of the match and took the game away from their opponents. It was indeed a memorable moment for fans to savour as it highlighted the intensity of the moment and showed how behind every star player, there is a coach playing an important role.
