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The Bengaluru Bulls played their first home game at a new home stadium in Nagpur against Tamil Thalaivas and put in a dominating performance until the last few minutes where they allowed the Thalaivas to give them a scare. Eventually, they did manage to hang on to their one point lead to secure their second victory of the tournament. Tamil Thalaivas are yet to taste success in their debut season in the Pro Kabaddi League.
In the another game of the night, Dabang Delhi, after their loss to Gujarat Fortunegiants, went up against Puneri Paltan but were taken apart by the combination of Rajesh Mondal and Paltan's superior defence to hurtle to their second defeat in Season 5. Here are the 5 talking points from the day.
#1 An all-round performance by Rohit Kumar turns it in Bulls' favour
'What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger,' they say. Rohit Kumar didn’t have the easiest of last year but if the last two games are anything to go by, he has come back really stronger. He had an amazing first game against Telugu Titans and he started from where he left against Tamil Thalaivas on Friday night. What's pleasing to see this season, however, is that Kumar has also added a few dimensions to his game which was well demonstrated in the first half of Bulls’ match against the Tamil Thalaivas.
With just five minutes gone from the match, the Bulls had begun to assert themselves but Thalaivas were not throwing in the towel yet. That’s when Rohit decided to take matters in his hands. He went in for a raid and had it not been for a half-hearted attempt from the defender, he wouldn’t have gotten a point. But that successful raid was enough for Kumar who was in action again when Thalaivas Bhavani Rajput came raiding.
Kumar, known for his raids, showed his immense muscle power to bring him down with an ankle hold. Kumar wasn’t done yet and went to take the raid with just two Thalaivas defenders left on the mat. A calm Rohit wasn’t too keen to inflict an all out and came back with a single raid point. But by then, he had set things in motion and a 6-2 scoreline in favour of his team reflected that.
#2 Bulls run riot in the first half
You know a team is on the backfoot when it has suffered an all out in the first half but two all outs in the first half is good enough to sound the death knell for the team. Tamil Thalaivas under Ajay Thakur never looked in control of the proceedings and went from bad to worse with every passing minute of the first half to hand over all the advantage to Bulls.
More than being dazzled by Rohit Kumar’s brilliance, they were guilty of giving away easy points, both in raiding and defence. The result was they were outdone quite early in the game and Bulls took advantage of all the errors to inflict the first All Out in the 8th minute and then again in the 17th minute.
The halftime scoreline of 23-8 meant that only a miracle could have saved them from an embarrassing defeat. However, credit to the team for almost pulling off that miracle in the second half.
#3 Coach's pep talk spurs a dream Thalaivas fightback
With just few minutes left on the clock and their team trailing by a good 10 points, Coach Bhaskaran took the time out to give Tamil Thalaivas a much needed pep talk. One of the biggest names in Kabaddi coaching, his instructions were clear to the team - don’t give in without a fight. He exhorted his troops to go in deep and inflict as much damage as possible without worrying about the results.
And the next four minutes saw an inspired Thalaivas claw their way back into the contest in a fashion no one had seen coming. They took advantage of a conservative waiting game being played by the Bulls in the second half as they upped the ante with some brilliant tackles towards the end to inflict an All Out and even level the scores before they eventually lost by a single point. One can only wonder what could have possibly happened had the pep talk come a little earlier from the Thalaivas' experienced coach.
#4 Mondal's moment of brilliance swings the momentum
Dabang Delhi didn’t have a mountain to climb going into the half time with just a trail of four points and they started the second half on a stronger note. In no time, they had levelled the scores as the scorecard read 13-13. With just one point lead in the 26th minute and the match hanging in balance, Rajesh Mondal provided the clincher for Paltan.
On a raid in the 26th minute, he first took out Meraj Sheykh with a hand touch and on the retreat overcame a charging Sunil to get his team two raid points.
His two point raid didn’t only extend the lead to three but also left Delhi with just one man, Bajirao Hodage, on the mat. Hodage was soon substituted with a raider, Shubham, who came to take a raid straightaway but his attempt was foiled by the Paltan defence which resulted in an All Out being inflicted on Dabang Delhi. Suddenly, in a matter of few seconds, the scoreline had turned from 14-13 to 20-13 in Pune’s favour. And it all started with a Rajesh Mondal raid. No wonder, they call him the 'Do or Die' man.
#5 Shinde shines in 'stealth mode'
Sandeep Narwal is a confident man and whether it is tackling or raiding, he oozes confidence in whatever he does. However, that proved his undoing on Friday when he went in to take a raid in the 28th minute against the Delhi side who were trailing by six points. He was confidently walking across the mat in the direction of the left corner, looking to play the waiting game with his side in a comfortable position, when Nilesh Shinde burst that bubble of his confidence.
With his back towards the right cover Shinde and eyes on the left corner, he couldn’t see a charging Shinde on a stealth mode approach him and was bulldozed off the court before he could blink. Although it didn’t make a huge difference to the scorecard, it definitely gave the moment of the Season 5 to the viewers as everyone except Narwal enjoyed the 36year old’s skills.
