PKL 2019 | Pune's tactical masterclass or Jaipur's nativity - Analysis of Paltan-Pink Panthers game

10/20/2018

Puneri Paltan got the better of Jaipur Pink Panthers 29-25 in a low-scoring thriller on the second day of their home leg. It was an evening dominated by the defenders and the defensive unit of the home team was more effective as compared to that of the Anup Kumar-led side from Jaipur.

Super Tackles, Super Tackles, and some more Super Tackles

The defensive unit of Puneri Paltan was instrumental in the game where they secured a record-equalling six Super Tackles and these proved to be the difference at the end. They were wonderful in the opposition’s do or die raids where they also managed to get Super Tackle points. After the first 15 minutes, Pune was trailing by five points and Nitin Rawal came in for a do or die raid with only two defenders on the mat. Rawal went deep into Pune’s half with Rinku Narwal and Ravi Kumar there, he targeted Ravi and then turned towards Rinku who stood in front of him to bring him down with a thigh hold which gave them two points for a Super Tackle.

In the next minute, Monu dashed Anup Kumar off the mat in another super tackle opportunity. Although the Jaipur team reviewed that decision, it went against them as the TV umpire didn’t have conclusive evidence to change that. The Pink Panthers tried to inflict an all out in the first half but failed in doing so because of the consecutive super tackles by the Pune defenders. In the last minute of the first half, Girish and Ravi effected another super tackle to block Nitin Rawal and that took them ahead of Jaipur at half-time.

The second half started with a Super Tackle in another do or die raid for them when Ravi held on to the thighs of Deepak Hood and skipper Girish came in to help him out. Sandeep and Girish combined again to get another Super Tackle after five minutes of the half-time. Their tryst with Super Tackles continued till the end which kept them ahead of the opponents in spite of having lesser number of players on the mat.

Pune’s sensible play after getting all-out

Jaipur inflicted an all-out and was trailing by only a point with more than two minutes of play remaining. Pune was still leading 25-24 against the opponents but they were in a spot of bother as it was anybody’s game at that stage. They held their nerves and after a timeout, their plans fell in place properly. Ernak came in from the left cover to dash Nitin Rawal out right after that to extend the lead and in the next raid for them. They didn’t do anything out of the ordinary during the raids and kept focused on killing time.

Their defence was maintaining a high line which restricted Jaipur raiders from getting the bonus and kept out multiple point raids out of the equation. They looked desperate to get a touch on the Pune players which helped the home team get tackle points and extend the lead. One example of that can be seen when Deepak’s attempt of running hand touch took him into the lobby because of the momentum with one minute to go extending the lead to four points. They didn’t concede the lead and eventually won the game by four points.

© Pune maintaining a highline to keep bonus out of the equation

Deepak Niwas Hooda stepped into the lobby while trying a running hand-touch ©

Anup Kumar underplayed himself with lesser number of raids

The Jaipur Pink Panthers used as many as six players to raid for them in yesterday’s game and the Captain Cool was not seen going to raid at crucial situations. They mostly went with Rawal or Hooda during the do or die raids and they even tried substitutes like Selvamani and Amit Kumar at important junctures of the game which went against them. This gave an opportunity to Puneri Paltan to get more points through super tackles with the raiders committing errors because of the pressure of a do or die raid. Anup, on the other hand, did well in the limited occasions he went to raid and being the most experienced player of the lot, he has an idea of the situation. He almost got two points from a single raid and inflicted an all-out with three minutes remaining in the first half. He was dashed out by Monu after he got a touch on Ravi, but he almost touched the mid-line before going out. The referees ruled him out and Jaipur took a review which unfortunately went against them because of the lack of conclusive evidence for the TV umpire.

He scored only one touch point in the game that he got against Rinku Narwal in the first half and went to raid on 15 occasions and some of them were quick empty raids where they tried to enforce do or die raids for the opponents in the first half.