PKL 2019 | Studs and Duds from Delhi leg ft. Saurabh Nandal, Sunil Kumar and Rahul Chaudhari

Studs 

Saurabh Nandal

Ravinder Pahal 

Was the Delhi leg a leg for the right corners? Ravinder Pahal, who is one of the finest right corners in the league history was going through a lean patch till the start of the Delhi leg. However, at home, he looked completely different. Starting from the game against the Bulls, where he showed the skill to stop “High-flyer” Pawan with the blocks, Pahal was sensational in front of his supporters. He also helped his skipper Joginder Narwal and cover defender Vishal Mane in effecting important tackles and his form was important along with Naveen Kumar’s raids in ensuring an unbeaten finish for Delhi at home. He ended up with 21 points from four games while his best performance came against U Mumba in the third game where he collected eight points from eight attempts without a single unsuccessful tackle in that match.

Duds

Sunil Kumar

U Mumba covers

U Mumba’s defence line-up is considered as one of the strongest in the league with the likes of Fazel Atrachali and Sandeep Narwal taking the two corner positions and being able to do well with that as well. However, their covers were also good with Surinder Singh already having the experiencing behind him and looking mature in the seventh season. But, in the only game that U Mumba played against Delhi, the cover defenders – Surinder and Harendra Kumar disappointed the teams and their fans. Harendra had only one to his name while right cover Surinder failed to open his account. In the same game, the corners Sandeep and Atrachali had five and four tackles respectively. The most bizarre fact is that Harendra had as many as five unsuccessful tackle attempts which shifted the game completely in Delhi’s favour towards the end of the first half and the home team won the game 40-24.

Rahul Chaudhari – the Poster Boy of Kabaddi and the Raid Machine – looked good in the first few games in his new team Tamil Thalaivas. However, after the end of the home leg, when the Thalaivas returned on to the mat in Delhi against Bengal Warriors, he had a terrible evening that led to their loss on the National Sports Day. A day on which their skipper Ajay Thakur was awarded with the prestigious Arjuna Award, Chaudhari collected only one and couldn’t support his skipper in the raiding department. He went for only five raids as most of the time, he was sent off the mat and even in the defence, he had to go out while attempting a catch. It is now crucial for the raider to get his form back ahead of the Bengaluru leg where the Thalaivas will be meeting the home team in the Kaveri Derby on Sunday.