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The home leg of the defending Pro Kabaddi champions Patna Pirates could not have asked for a better start at the Harivansh Tana Bhagat Indoor Stadium in Ranchi on Friday. As the crowd vociferously screamed for their home team, Patna’s captain Pardeep Narwal simply rose to the occasion to gift them a spectacle.
He fetched 14 points for the hosts that saw him get his ninth Super 10 in 12 matches this season. Not only that, with 156 points, he became the highest scorer in any season. With Monu Goyat in tow, Pardeep staved off the Rahul Chaudhari challenge of the Telugu Titans in the first half and then the hosts ran away with the match to score a dominant 46-30 victory.
Pardeep dazzled once again just like he always does. There was the same conviction, the same eagle-like focus, the same ruthlessness. Yet the 20-year-old never gets tired of wanting to improve further.
Perhaps that is what sets him apart from the rest.
Away from the mat, Pardeep is a shy and soft-spoken young man. But ask him about his performance and you immediately notice a twinkle in his eyes. Even in the few words that he utters, you can easily understand how much he really cares for the game and for his team.
“I will try to do even better in Patna’s next few matches.”
That simple reply also gives a testimony to how much grounded the star raider is. There are no starry airs about him, he never takes the credit no matter how many times he has been the star of the show.
There is so much faith in him and the rest of the raiders that the Patna coach Ram Mehar Singh even admitted that he does not bother at all about the raiding department.
“There’s nothing to worry about the raiders. We already have the top raiders with us in Pardeep and Monu. There is no problem in that area at all,” said Singh, the confidence oozing from his voice.
That said, it was actually the defence that impressed Singh the most on Friday evening. Patna had failed to taste a win in their last two outings at the Sonepat leg. That definitely hurt the green-and-yellow brigade, who have such a spectacular unit in attack.
And Singh confessed that it was the defenders who needed to buck up on Friday and they did. The combination of sizzling attack and resolute defence took the match away from Rahul Chaudhari’s men even though the Titans did level the score at 13-13 at one point.
“We were making mistakes in defence in our last two matches and that cost us dearly. Today we were careful not to repeat them. Vishal Mane took control of the right corner and the combination of attack and defence wreaked havoc on the Titans.
Elaborating on how the match became a one-sided affair in the second half, he said, “Our intention was to restrict the main raider and not concede bonus points. In the second half, the cover and corner pounced brilliantly on Nilesh Salunkhe and that did them in.”
The beaming coach also made it a point to thank the crowd whose chants of support reverberated throughout the stadium.
“The public support made the players far more confident,” he signed off with the hope that they keep on rooting even more for their team in the rest of the leg.
