PKL 2019 | Defence made all the difference in Dabang Delhi’s win against Haryana Steelers

Dabang Delhi had only one win out of the six games against Haryana Steelers prior to the last night’s game. Even going by the form of both the teams, Delhi had two close wins against Telugu Titans and Tamil Thalaivas while Haryana Steelers had managed to get the better of Puneri Paltan quite convincingly in their first outing.

In the first raid for Delhi, it was Chandran Ranjit who caught opposition skipper Dharmaraj Cheralathan napping at the right corner position and sent him off the mat with a toe touch. Although Naveen and Vinay looked good in raiding for Haryana in the start of the game, the defence kept on leaking points with some very rash tackle attempts in the first half itself. Pretty much like the first raid for Ranjit, Naveen also managed to get out Cheralathan in his first raid. 

In the first Do or die raid in the second half of the match, Naveen managed to get two points again thanks to ambitious tackle attempt by Vikram Kandola and Kuldeep Singh. That was needless again from Haryana as it was the raider’s headache whether to take a point or get out. Not only for Naveen but the Haryana defence messed it up when Ranjit went for a Do or die raid as well. With 12 minutes remaining in the match, Ranjit attempted a kick on Cherala at the left corner but failed. However, his momentum took him into the lobby without touch and Cheralathan also had stepped out.

These instances show the lack of game awareness by the Haryana defenders throughout the match in which Delhi managed to collect easy points in important raids. On the other hand, Delhi defence was well balanced last evening. The decision of playing Iranian Saeid Gaffari at the left cover in place of Anil Kumar worked well for them. Gaffari looked powerful with his thigh hold and the combination with right cover Mane also looked balanced for Delhi. The Iranian managed to bag four tackle points and alongside Mane, the duo registered six points.

Gaffari had a great contribution to bring Delhi back from the all-out situation in the first half. With around six minutes remaining before the break, Delhi had three defenders on the mat and it was Naveen who had come for the raid. Joginder Narwal at his usual left corner position went ahead with a solo tackle attempt by holding on to Naveen’s foot. However, when the raider was about to come out of that, it was the Iranian who came in running to dash the raider off the mat. Naveen was close to the midline and Haryana even decided to challenge the decision after the officials had given it in Delhi’s favour. The replays, however, showed that he was off the mat and the hand came from out and Delhi earned the Super Tackle from which the revival started from the Dabang unit.