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The fifth week of VIVO Pro Kabaddi 2019 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex in Chennai saw some hard-hitting rivalries ignite along with close finishes to the matches. Hosts Tamil Thalaivas remained winless in their home leg with three losses and a tie to culminate the leg.
Defending champions Bengaluru Bulls dominated the opening day versus Tamil Thalaivas 21-32 courtesy a Pawan Sehrawat masterclass. In the second day of the Chennai leg, Tamil Thalaivas and Puneri Paltan fought a tightly contested match which ended in a breath-taking tie at 31-31.
Thalaivas squared off against Jaipur Pink Panthers but but lost by a scoreline of 26-28 in what was the most heated match of this season. A comeback from U Mumba's defence in the second half of their game against Thalaivas 24-29 crushed the hosts' hopes of winning in their home leg in this season.
Sandeep Dhull, Baldev Singh, and Sunil Kumar have the most High-5s (3) till the Chennai leg with Sandeep Dhull at the top position. Pankaj with an average of 4.5 tackle points in two matches has the best so far. All-rounder Monu from Patna Pirates has executed six super tackles so far in the season.
As we move to the next home leg in Delhi, let's have a look at the five top defenders of the season till the Chennai leg.
#5 Sunil Kumar - Gujarat Fortune Giants
The captain of Gujarat Fortune Giants, Sunil Kumar has been decent with his form and has led the rest of the defence as a composed leader till now. Despite the six-match losing streak for Gujarat, Sunil Kumar has made formidable efforts to unite his team on the same wavelength.
Gujarat Fortune Giants faced Patna Pirates in their only match in Chennai leg after a forgetful outing at home in Ahmedabad. Skipper Sunil Kumar prevailed over the offence of Patna Pirates and scored three tackle points in four attempts to get the team to a victory.
Sunil Kumar has 28 tackle points in ten matches and has scored 3 High-5s in the season so far. He has been amazing with his lower body tackles over the raiders and dismantling their balance to stop them from scoring raid points.
#4 Vishal Bhardwaj - Telugu Titans
Vishal Bhardwaj had a rough start to the season as the defense was loose in the first few matches. Later on, he scored a brilliant High-5 versus Bengaluru Bulls but could not ensure victory for his team despite being the lone warrior in the defense.
In the next match versus Gujarat Fortune Giants, Vishal scored a successive High-5 with seven tackle points at a cent percent strike rate. He went on to score two tackle points in the tied game versus Bengal Warriors and three tackle points against Haryana Steelers which Telugu Titans won comfortably.
Vishal has been decent with his ankle holds and dives so far in this season. He has scored 29 tackle points in nine matches at an average of 3.22 tackle points with two high-5s to his name.
#3 Sumit - UP Yoddha
Sumit in the left corner position has been the find for UP Yoddha this season. While a stalwart in Nitesh Kumar has been struggling to find his momentum in the offense, young Sumit has led the defense for the team in sublime touch.
In the last five matches, he came in the spotlight with four tackle points against Tamil Thalaivas out of six attempts. Sumit scored a High-5 of the season against Bengaluru Bulls and dominated the likes of Pawan Sehrawat and Rohit Kumar. Sumit scored four tackle points consecutively against Haryana Steelers and Jaipur Pink Panthers to get the team back to winning ways.
Sumit has 30 tackle points in nine matches at an average of 3.33 tackle points. He has scored 2 High-5s in the season so far as UP Yoddha's lone warrior in the defense.
#2 Jaideep - Patna Pirates
Jaideep has led the defense for Patna Pirates as the lone defender for the team. He has been able to work well on his ankle holds and tackled lethal raiders on solo efforts.
Jaideep scored his first High-5 of the season against Telugu Titans where he scored six tackle points to take his team to a dominant victory 22-34. He went on to score seven tackle points in his successive match against Tamil Thalaivas which the team won by a point margin 23-24.
However, Jaideep scored only two tackle points against Haryana Steelers, U Mumba, Gujarat Fortune Giants and Bengal Warriors in the past five outings. He will look to improve his numbers as the season continues to move on.
Jaideep has 30 tackle points in ten matches at an average of 3 tackle points till now.
#1 Sandeep Dhull - Jaipur Pink Panthers
One of the strongest sides in defense this season, Jaipur Pink Panthers have remained a consistent side in the season so far courtesy of Sandeep Dhull's brilliant tackling skills. He has been in sublime touch with his breath-taking ankle holds in the league thus far.
The holder of the orange arm-band scored his first High-5 against Bengal Warriors with eight tackle points to outsmart the heavy offense of Warriors. He scored his second consecutive High-5 against Haryana Steelers to book a dominant victory over them. Dhull once again scored eight tackle points against Patna Pirates and tackled the likes of Pardeep Narwal for a dominant win.
Sandeep has been a bit lackluster in the last five outings for Jaipur Pink Panthers as he has not scored a High-5. However, his inclusion in the side has been crucial for the table-toppers of the season.
Sandeep Dhull has 33 tackle points in nine matches at an average of 3.67 tackle points with three high 5s to his name.
