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The city of Mumbai bid adieu to the caravan of Pro Kabaddi on Friday but not before hosting two exciting encounters. The first tie of the night saw Tamil Thalaivas take on Telugu Titans in the southern derby in presence of Thalaivas's co owner Sachin Tendulkar and his family.
However, even 'God' couldn't do much on the night as his team capitulated in a familiar fashion in front of a Titan defence which was exceptionally well led by young Sombir who scored 10 tackle points in the match, claiming the record of highest tackle points in a match in Season 5.
More stars filled the DOME@NSCI SVP for the second match which was the last of the Mumbai leg and saw traditional rivals U Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers lock horns. In one of the exciting contests of Season 5, U Mumba pipped the Panthers to the pole and scored their second win of the home leg but not before almost letting go of it in the last few minutes.
However, Jaipur's comeback and U Mumba's eventual victory provided the perfect ending to the Mumbai leg which saw the city brave rains that brought it to a standstill in the last few days and enthusiastically fill the stadiums and support Kabaddi.
Here are the five talking points from the 30th day of Season 5.
#1 Titans come back strong in first half
Match number 54 began for the Thalaivas in a fashion that would have made Sachin Tendulkar sitting in the crowds proud. The Telugu Titans were trailing by 4 points and weren't able to score a single point by the fifth minute.
But even with their backs against the wall, the Titans stung back in style and turned the tables on the Thalaivas in no time.
It all started with Sombir and Rohit Rana getting their team a super tackle by bringing Prapanjan down. The duo served Ajay Thakur with the same treatment in the next minute and suddenly the score was level at 5-5. Iranian all rounder Farhad Milaghardan came to the party next and nicked two successful raids to bring Titans to almost full strength on the mat.
In this way, before the clock had turned 10, the Titans were in the lead which they held on to throughout the match.
#2 Missing goes the raid machine Rahul Chaudhari
In the team’s loss to UP Yoddha in their last match, Rahul Chaudhari made 23 raid attempts and got his team a mere four points from those raids. The team lost by two points eventually.
Things only got worse for the Telugu captain on Friday as absolutely nothing seemed to work for the raider despite his team playing good kabaddi. He could only manage a couple of touch points from close to twenty attempts and one of them came in the dying moments of the match.
Moreover, on most occasions, one couldn’t understand why he was employing himself for raiding duties over two Iranians Farhad Milaghardan and Mohsen Maghsoudlou who looked more threatening on the night than either of the Indians. Even his tactics as a leader came under scanner when he seemed to be engaged in a bit of a personal duel with Thalaivas skipper Ajay Thakur and took an unnecessary review in the first half, wasting it in the process.
#3 Sensational Sombir's super duper 10
The television commentators often quip how a raider's super 10 effort is equivalent to a century in cricket. Going by the same parameters, Telugu Titans defender Sombir’s effort on Friday can find a parallel in a bowler taking all ten wickets in an innings, which has happened only twice in International cricket.
One match ago, Sombir had produced a magnificent performance to notch eight points against U Mumba. But Friday’s Sombir was some other beast altogether. First, he helped the team come back from a 0-4 scoreline by putting in two super tackle efforts. Then he helped his team consolidate and stretch the lead in the second half of the game.
And when things got tense again with Thalaivas threatening a break in in the game’s dying moments, he did the job once again by bringing the best raider of Thalaivas down to end all hopes of the opposition of a comeback.
It was fitting that with that tackle, Sombir also brought up his 10th point. The match truly belonged to the 19-year-old.
#4 Jasvir's scary performances
Where there is Jasvir Singh, the bizarre and comic is not too far away!
When the first half whistle went, Jasvir Singh had nothing to show from his 9 raid attempts. Yet he earned his team vital points in a rather bizarre fashion. He came on to raid in the 13th minute and teased the defence as he always does with his all mat covering hustle.
But this time, his teasing resulted in a point without him really putting himself in any danger as Surinder committed a self out by stepping on the white line, adding to his long list of school boyish errors this season.
On Jaipur's next raid, Singh was at it again as he forced left corner Darshan Kadyan off the court in the same way he had done to Surinder. But that was not it as, for once, even Anup Kumar found himself in the dock as Jasvir's review revealed that the 34-year-old also had stepped on the white line from his right corner position.
In a matter of a minute, in probably a first of PKL, Jasvir had got his team three points without touching a single defender. That was not all as he got his team two more points in the same fashion in the second half to make it five for the day. Just Jasvir things!
#5 Kashiling keeps the faith
The last 10 minutes of the match moved at a breakneck pace with pressure taking over both the teams and making them commit errors. From Self Out to All Out to words being exchanged, the last quarter saw everything possible on a Kabaddi court.
Enjoying a six point lead at the 35th minute, U Mumba suffered again from young Surinder’s impetuousness and some fine raiding by Jasvir Singh to slip to a position where the scores got locked at 32-32 with less than a minute left. Suddenly, Abhishek Bachchan’s side seemed more confident of a win.
It was then that Kashiling Adake went in for the raid that would have decided the match's fate. Up against 7 raiders, who were not ready to concede him even a bonus point, Adake looked clueless in the first 15 seconds but eventually, as if almost magically, got his team not only a bonus point but also a tackle point to seal the game in U Mumba’s favour. Just as Sombir’s last tackle point had got him his 10th tackle point of the match along with sealing his team’s fortune, Adake astonishing effort got him his first Super 10 of this season.
