Pro Kabaddi League 2021-22: Unstoppable Naveen Kumar keeps Delhi’s unbeaten streak going, Bengaluru bounce back

The match between Dabang Delhi and Bengal Warriors saw the 2019 finalists square off for the first time in Pro Kabaddi season 8. But the much-anticipated clash quickly turned into a one-man show as Delhi’s red-hot raider Naveen Kumar notched a career-high of 24 raid points to lead his team to a 52-35 win this week. The clash was also emblematic of the change in fortunes this season. Delhi have won three and tied two of their matches and are the only unbeaten team so far. They are second in the standings, having played one match less than leaders Bengaluru Bulls, while defending champions Bengal are languishing at No 10 in the 12-team League. Much of Delhi’s broad-chested swagger has arisen from Naveen Kumar’s stellar show. He entered the record books as the youngest and fastest to 500 raid points in the League last week. And he has continued to run through defences. Naveen has now scored a Super 10 in all of the five matches he has played. Of the 112 raid points Delhi has scored so far this season, Naveen has contributed a season-leading 81 raid points. The danger for the 2019 finalists is over-reliance on their star raider, especially since it is going to be another long season. Telugu Titans, who have played four matches, are yet to win while Puneri Paltan sit at the bottom of the leaderboard with five points from five matches. Bulls bounce back Having suffered a crushing 30-46 defeat at the hands of U Mumba on the first day, first show of PKL 8, the Bengaluru Bulls have bounced back in style. They currently lead the table with 23 points from six matches. With captain Pawan Kumar Sehrawat leading the way, they have won four of their last five matches, and settled for a tie in one. While Pawan (73 raid points) has done bulk of the scoring, he has received invaluable support from Chandran Ranjit and Bharat. Raiding is the strong suit of Bulls, but their defence has looked more organized as the season has gone on. Saurabh Nandal (15 tackle points), who was their leading defender last season, is anchoring the show. Big wins While Pro Kabaddi has built a legion of fans on the back of the alive-till-the-final-raid close encounters, week two of Season 8 was dominated by lopsided results. Delhi’s 17-point win over Bengal was the biggest of the week, when six matches were won by 10 points or more. Bengaluru Bulls and Patna Pirates flexed their muscles with a couple of big wins. The Bulls defeated Haryana Steelers 42-28 and Puneri Paltan 40-29. Meanwhile, three-time champions Patna are trying hard to fill the massive void left by Pardeep Narwal’s departure. With Sachin and Monu Goyat spearheading the challenge, they scored a 44-30 win over Bengal and 38-26 win over Puneri Paltan. U Mumba just about failed to join the club, scoring a nine-point (37-28) win over Jaipur Pink Panthers. Hat-trick of ties The League, however, bucked the trend on New Year’s Day. Dramatically so. The ‘Triple Panga’ Saturday produced a hat-trick of ties. UP Yoddha held U Mumba to a 28-28 draw to start off the proceedings. The Mumbai team succeeded in keeping Pardeep Narwal in check. Pardeep, who was signed for a record amount for Rs 1.65 crore from the Patna Pirates, hasn’t had the best of starts and Mumbai preyed on his confidence deficit. Pardeep succeeded in only three of his 12 raids and had to settle for four raid points. The low came when he had to be substituted in the 29th minute. With both the teams playing safe, the match ended with three empty raids, which neatly summed up the low-scoring encounter. With Ankit Beniwal springing a surprise with a Super 10 performance, Telugu Titans were able to hold Bengaluru Bulls to a 34-34 tie. The young raider made sure the Bangalore franchise could not open a hefty lead and run away with the game, like they have this season. Another tie in the day seemed unlikely when Delhi opened an eight-point lead over the struggling Tamil Thalaivas in the final match. But a Super Tackle on Naveen gave the Thalaivas a much-needed boost. They closed the gap and had their nose ahead in the final minute of the game. But Delhi all-rounder Sandeep Narwal escaped an attempt at dash in the final raid to earn a point and level the scores. Fading stars Former India captain Ajay Thakur, Rohit Kumar and Rishank Devadiga have all dazzled at some point. But the star raiders are yet to make an impact on the League in this season. They have scored only one raid point each so far. With Naveen taking over the charge for Delhi, Thakur had the luxury to sit back and enjoy the show. He has ventured into only seven raids in four matches so far. But Rohit and Rishank have been unable to shake their teams into action. Rishank, who was signed by the Warriors from UP Yoddha, has played only one match so far and was able to score only one point. Rohit Kumar, meanwhile, raids only occasionally as he has taken the leadership role. Rohit, who burst onto the scene in Season 3 with Patna, has 18 raids to his name this season. He was forced to shoulder more responsibility after Siddharth Desai hurt his wrist during the clash against Bengaluru. But the tall raider was unable to deliver. The telling moment came in the second half of the match, when Rohit was brought down by his former teammate Pawan Kumar Sehrawat. Sehrawat showed he’s a useful defender as he pulled Rohit by the arm and almost single-handedly tackled him. It was an interesting turn of events, as captain Rohit had hand-held Sehrawat through a breakthrough season in 2018-19, which ended in the Bulls winning their first and only title so far. Results: 28 December Haryana Steelers bt Telugu Titans 39-37 Patna Pirates bt Puneri Paltan 38-26 29 December Gujarat Giants tie with UP Yoddha 32-32 Dabang Delhi bt Bengal Warriors 52-35 (17) 30 December Bengaluru Bulls bt Haryana Steelers 42-28 (14) U Mumba bt Jaipur Pink Panthers 37-28 31 December Tamil Thalaivas bt Puneri Paltan 36-26 (10) Patna Pirates bt Bengal Warriors 44-30 (14) 1 January  U Mumba tie with UP Yoddha 28-28 Bengaluru Bulls tie with Telugu Titans 34-34 Dabang Delhi tie with Tamil Thalaivas 30-30 2 January  Haryana Steelers bt Gujarat Giants 38-36 Bengaluru Bulls bt Puneri Paltan 40-29 Deepti Patwardhan is a freelance sports writer based in Mumbai. Read all the Latest News , Trending News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.