PKL 2019 | Best 7 of Pune leg ft. Pardeep Narwal, Sagar Krishna and Baldev Singh
PKL
The Pune leg of PKL 2019 witnessed some very good raiding performance as compared to the defence and the matches were close and interesting. Here's the list of players who impressed one and all with their amazing performance in Pune and have found a place in SportsCafe's best 7 of the Pune leg.
V Ajith Kumar, Raider, Tamil Thalaivas
In this season, not many players from Tamil Thalaivas have featured in our Best 7 but V Ajith Kumar's performance has been far superior than his entire team in past several matches. In the two matches that Thalaivas played in Pune, Ajith scored a total of 27 points. Thalaivas lost the first game and in the second match against the home team, Ajith unleashed his wrath and scored 18 points with a 95 per cent strike-rate. He only saved his team from an all-out in four consecutive raids but also managed to score two points each time. He was one of the best raiders in the leg and so had to be featured on our list as well. Â
Abhishek Singh, Raider, U Mumba
Though he only played one match in the leg, he was responsible for turning the match around in his team’s favour. He managed to score points against the opposition's toughest defender without giving him a single point. The surprise raid has to have a special mention as that super raid led to the opponent's all-out and Mumba coming from behind and winning the match. He has been doing well till now and will hope to continue in that form for the team from Maharashtra's capital city.
Pardeep Narwal, Raider, Patna Pirates
The most successful raider in the history of PKL, Pardeep Narwal, didn’t disappoint us in Pune leg as well where he scored 35 points in two matches. Beating the home team in the first match by a 22-point margin where his contribution was of 18 points must have given Pardeep a lot of confidence. In the second match, he scored 17 points and managed to tie the match with multiple-point raids at various crucial moments. Although his team is at a precarious position this season, Pardeep continues to dominate the action on the mat with some amazing performances.
Baldev Singh, Right Corner, Bengal Warriors
He played only one match in the Pune Leg but was a very crucial part in Bengal Warriors' victory in that match. He scored six tackle points and was the highest scorer for the team in defence. He managed to score against a team with has more than one quality raiders and he managed to curb them as Haryana lost the game by a convincing margin. Overall, as well, he is the top defender of his team with 50 points and will hope to continue being that way.
Sagar Krishna, Left Corner, Puneri Paltan
He is the only player from the home team and he played the last match of the home leg but still made it here because of his match-winning performance against Bengaluru Bulls. He scored seven points with a 100 per cent strike-rate last night against the defending champions. Six of those seven points came from super-tackles as he caught Rohit Kumar twice and Pawan Sehrawat once in those situations. He was phenomenal and based on this performance he might even get a chance to play more games going forward in the tournament.
Neeraj Kumar, Right Cover, Patna Pirates
He is featured in this list because he gave the best performance by a defender in PKL history. He equaled the record of most tackle points in a match which is 11 tackle points in the game against the home team. He scored with a strike rate of 85 per cent and was a crucial part in Patna’s victory against Puneri Paltan. Though he wasn’t able to follow up with the same momentum in the next match but with the match-winning performance against the Paltan, it became evident that he has the talent to do well and that he can do it again.
Anil Kumar, Left Cover, Dabang DelhiÂ
Anil Kumar scored a total of five points in the two matches Delhi played in the Pune leg. Most of the points were against Telugu Titans and in that match, Delhi won by an eight point margin. In that match, he was the top defender for the team with four points. He also managed to oust Siddharth Desai two times who was the top scorer for the opponents. Special mention here for Parvesh Bhainswal from Gujarat Fortunegiants as he also played well in the Pune Leg but Anil’s strike rate was better so he will be a part of our team of the leg instead of the Gujarat defender.
Cricket FootBall Kabaddi
Basketball Hockey
SportsCafe
