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Pro Kabaddi League has seen three different winners in the first three seasons of the tournament. Currently in its fourth season, the league has seen some tremendous displays in the defensive department of the game by players who worked very hard to ensure the opposition’s raiders weren’t successful in their mission to score points, and have stopped them dead in their tracks by using a plethora of defensive moves.
Just like Castrol Activ’s Actibonds help protect the engine and allow it to perform better continously, these defensive performances helped their teams perform better with their dedicated and impeccable defense during these matches.
Quite often, a lot of teams have won matches due to the amazing performances of their defenders. Let us now take a look at the top 5 defensive performances in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League:
Surender Nada (U Mumba, season 1)
Surender Nada, the captain of Bengaluru Bulls in Season 4, was a relatively unknown name in the inaugural season of the PKL. He was a young defender playing for the Anup Kumar-led U Mumba side, and turned out to be one of the star performers for them that season.
His great show on the court made him a household name, and now he is considered to be one of the poster boys of the tournament.
He was the most solid defender for U Mumba in Season 1, and finished second in the list of top defenders that season, with a total of 48 points. He was ably supported by Mohit Chhillar and Vishal Mane as Mumbai had one of the most formidable defences that season.
He had a major influence on the match that Mumbai played against Bengaluru Bulls in the second semi-final of the tournament. Nada changed the outcome of the game with a splendid display of his defensive abilities, and turned the tide in favour of U Mumba as he used his ankle holds and thigh holds to stop the raiders of Bengaluru from scoring points.
They eventually won the match 27-23, with Surender scoring 10 tackle points to help his team book a berth in the final.
Sandeep Dhull (Telugu Titans, season 4)
Sandeep Dhull is one of the youngest players in this season’s PKL, but he has put in some exemplary performances so far, including some in season 3.
Considered to be one of the brightest talents in the art of defence in the country, Dhull has helped his team Telugu Titans by using his defensive expertise to stop raiders in their tracks. He has 13 successful tackles to his name so far for his team.
He was phenomenal in the Titans’ match against Bengal Warriors, who are having a very disappointing season. The Titans won the match 35-18, and Dhull was one of the most successful players in the game.
He stopped the Bengal raiders from scoring points at will and had 8 successful tackle points to his name, and his performance has been considered to be one of the best this season by a defender.
He single-handedly dismantled the offensive line up of the Warriors, who could only score 18 points in the match.
Ravinder Pahal - (Dabang Delhi, season 2)
Ravinder Pahal is one of the most important cogs in the wheel of the Puneri Paltan, and has given able support to his captain Manjeet Chhillar in the ongoing season 4 of the Pro Kabaddi League. The former Eagles’ skipper has 19 successful tackles to his name to stand second in the list of top defenders as Pune are having a great run in Season 4.
The 25-year old Pahal was one of the best defenders in season 2, as he finished second in the list of top defenders with 53 successful tackles to his name. He led from the front and was selfless and determined to win on the mat. However, his team did not share the same zeal and vigour as him, as the campaign for Delhi was a rather dismal one that season.
Out of the first 8 matches that the team played that season, he won the ‘Best Defender Award’ a whopping 6 times and the Man of the Match Award 3 times. He was a man possessed on the court and was consistent throughout the season for his team.
One of his performances that stood out in PKL history was against Bengal Warriors (Match 14, season 2). The Eagles had a decent start to their season 2 campaign but were not able to convert close finishes into wins.
The Delhi-based franchise went to win the crunch tie 32-21 with Pahal outclassing the Bengal raiders on a regular basis and went to claim a mammoth total of 7 tackle points.
Manjeet Chhillar (Puneri Paltan, season 3)
Manjeet Chhillar can be considered to be the most successful defender in the history of PKL. After having played for the Bulls in the first two seasons, he made a switch to Puneri Paltan in season three.
He was the best defender of Season 1, with 51 successful tackles for the Bulls to give him the top spot in the list of best defenders of the season. He was 4th in the list of successful defenders with 39 tackles in Season 2.
He topped the list of best defenders of Season 3 playing for Puneri Paltan with 56 successful tackles to his name, and has been having a great Season 4 as well.
However, he made a name for himself in Season 1, where he was sensational all through the tournament for the Bulls and helped them come out of dire situations with his all-round expertise.
He was superb in organising his team’s formation and was more often than not successful in stopping raiders from scoring raid points, and led the Bulls to the semi-finals against U Mumba, where they were unsuccessful in booking a berth in the final.
His performance against season 1 champions Jaipur Pink Panthers (Match 24, season 3) can be considered as one of the finest defensive performances of his PKL career. The scoreboard read 32-32 at the end of the final whistle, with the 29-year old all-rounder claiming a mammoth total of 7 tackle points and 6 raid points which helped the Paltans to draw their 2nd game in the 3rd season.
Dharmaraj Cheralathan – (Patna Pirates, season 4)
The battle-hardened veteran Dharmaraj Cheralathan was handed the role of marshalling the defending champions Patna Pirates’ defence for season 4 of Pro Kabaddi League. The 43-year old defender used his vast experience and has been very successful in organising his troops perfectly in order to succeed as a team.
With him leading the Pirates, the Patna-based franchise had the perfect start to their season 4 campaign as they won their first 5 matches to claim the top spot in the standings at the end of the first half of the season.
His performance against Bengal Warriors (Match 24, season 4) at the Patliputra Sports Complex, Patna is the kind of effort that makes ‘Anna’ so special for the kabaddi world. He went on to gather a whopping total of 9 tackle points, just 1 shy of Surender Nada’s all time record of 10.
He also went on to affect 4 super tackles in the same match against the Warriors, the joint highest by any player in a single match in the Pro Kabaddi history.
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