Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Five talking points from Day 71 of PKL 5

It was an interesting Day 71 of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 5, as the Patna Pirates and the Bengaluru Bulls played out a thrilling 29-29 draw, while home side Puneri Paltan earned a massive 38-15 victory over the Jaipur Pink Panthers, at the Balewadi Stadium Complex, in Pune, on Wednesday.

Although the result of the Patna-Bengaluru game was rendered inconsequential, Pune gained a lot from their win over Jaipur, as they went to within three points of Zone A leaders Gujarat Lions, who they play in their last group stage match, on Friday.

Here, we take a look at some of the main talking points from the two Pro Kabaddi League matches.

#1 Akshay Jadhav’s fierce tackling gives Pune the advantage

Akshay Jadhav gon in his tackles with great determination.

Akshay Jadhav was impeccable at the back for the Puneri Paltan tonight. Pune needed the win in order to give themselves a shot at finishing top of Zone A, and they have got just that, thanks to Jadhav’s efforts.

Primarily a defender, Jadhav managed to get in a Super 5 on the night, as he scored 4 tackle points and also went on to notch up a solitary raid point against a hapless Jaipur Pink Panthers defence.

#2 Deepak Niwas Hooda: Captain, leader, legend

Deepak Hooda has been simply phenomenal in both the raiding and the defensive departments, tonight.

Deepak Hooda is obviously one of the most important players for the Puneri Paltan. He showed exactly how much he is worth to his side yet again, as he notched up an impressive 11 raid points on the night. What made Deepak’s efforts all the more special was that he went in for a number of do-or-die raids, leading his side from the front.

It was not only the raiding department that Deepak excelled in. He even contributed to the defence in a major way, putting in as many as three successful raids which took his overall tally on the night to an impressive 14.

#3 Rohit Kumar on song again

Rohit Kumar continued his good form.

Moving on to the Patna Pirates vs Bengaluru Bulls game earlier in the night, Rohit Kumar had a brilliant outing last time round against the UP Yoddha, and although he could not notch up as many as 30 points in tonight’s match against the Patna Pirates, he did manage to get a number of crucial raid points for his side, earning them the draw. He ended with a total tally of 9 raid points.

In fact, his contribution propelled Bengaluru to a one or two point lead during parts of the second half, at a time when it looked like the Bulls were going to run away with a slender win. However, the Patna Pirates were able to pull things back in the end to level it all up at 29-29.

#4 Jawahar Dagar, Monu Goyat shine for Patna Pirates

Monu Goyat stepped up to the plate in the raiding department for Patna Pirates.

While Pardeep Narwal had a bit of an off-day tonight, it was Patna Pirates’ secondary raider Monu Goyat who took matters into his own hands, scoring a Super 10 in his raid points. Pardeep had to spend long sessions on the bench tonight, and it was during these sessions that Monu came unto his own and got in the successful raids for his side. He even managed to get in a successful tackle to take his match tally to an impressive 11 points.

Meanwhile, Jawahar Dagar was the talisman in defence for Patna. He was as gritty as ever in defence, managing a Super Tackle and also getting in two other successful tackles. His points tally of 3 from this match may not have reflected his contribution, but Jawahar played a crucial role for Patna in this close game.

#5 Pardeep Narwal’s empty raid

Pardeep Narwal literally decided the fate of the match by settling for an empty raid in the last raid of the match.

This was perhaps the biggest and most baffling moment of the match for both the sides. With the scores tied at 29-29 and just a handful of seconds left on the clock, Patna had just enough time for just another raid – the buzzer raid. A successful raid here could win the game, but being brought down by the opposing defence would mean victory for Bengaluru.

With the stakes as high as that, Pradeep Narwal decided to settle for the draw as he paced once around the defence and returned to the centre line to end the match at a draw. Perhaps that was the fair result as well, as both the sides had played their hearts out.