Patna and Delhi were the most consistent sides through the season and finished as No 1 and No 2 on the leaderboard after the League stage, and it is fitting these two will meet in the season finale
For the most part in their semi-final against the Patna Pirates, UP Yoddha’s Pardeep Narwal and Surender Gill sat on the bench shoulders slumped. The most prolific scorer in Pro Kabaddi’s history and a raider who had bulldozed opponents through the season had been rendered ineffective. Almost every time they ventured into the rival half, the dangerous, circling Pirates defence would congregate on them like a pack of sharks, swallowing the raider in a mass of bodies.
A battered Pardeep scored four points in 16 raids against his former team while Surender, who ended with 189 points in 23 matches, had only one bonus point to show for his eight outings.
With the commanding 38-27 win over the UP Yoddha on Wednesday, Patna once again flexed their muscle and sent a warning to their opponents in the final. The green brigade has only gained in momentum and strength as the season has progressed and look poised for another title victory.
Taking them on in Friday’s final will be Dabang Delhi.
It is fitting that these two are the last teams standing. Patna and Delhi were the most consistent sides through the season and finished as No 1 and No 2 on the leaderboard after the League stage.
While it was Naveen Kumar that powered Delhi in the first half of the season, it was their experienced defence that helped the team rally in his absence. And it was that very defence that helped the team edge to a 40-35 victory against the Bengaluru Bulls in the second semi-final on Wednesday.
Pro Kabaddi, which was cancelled last year due to the pandemic, made a much-anticipated return in December last year. As the League, held in a bio-secure bubble, nears its conclusion after more than two months of action, we look at how the finalists match-up:
Head-to-Head
Even though Patna finished on the top of the leaderboard this season, Dabang Delhi had their number. Of Patna’s five defeats in 2021-22, two came against Delhi.
Despite Naveen being ruled out due to a knee injury of their first match against Patna, Delhi won 32-29. Vijay (9 points) and Sandeep Narwal (8 points) stepped up and picked holes in the Patna defence.
Later in the season, Delhi snapped Patna’s seven-match winning streak with a 26-23 win. However, Patna had already qualified for the Playoffs by that time and coach Ram Maher Singh left out the team’s two main raiders – Sachin Tanwar and Guman Singh–in a bid to rest and protect them.
Once again, Vijay played a key role by bringing back seven raid points. But it was Delhi defence, the experienced Manjeet Chhillar (5 tackle points) in particular, that stole the show.
Strengths and weakness
Naveen was the reason Delhi hit the ground running when Pro Kabaddi returned in December. Using his speed and agility, the 21-year-old started the season with seven consecutive Super 10s and became the youngest player to cross 500 raid points.
The zippy raider, who has a mature head on his shoulders, continues to be Delhi’s biggest weapon. He also has an able support raider in Vijay, who has scored 144 points from 22 matches.
If not the best, Delhi certainly has the most experienced defensive line-up this season. Joginder Narwal, Sandeep Narwal, Jeeva Kumar and Manjeet have played more than a 100 matches each and have a combined experience of 514 matches.
Though the defence was rusty in the first half of the season, they have started to come together at the right time. Delhi will also take heart from the fact that Krishan Dhull has put in some exceptional performances in the right corner, usually a position occupied by Sandeep. The youngster earned four tackle points against Patna in their second clash.
Despite the experience, Delhi’s defence can sometimes be too gung-ho. Joginder is usually the guy with the cool head in defence, while Manjeet and Sandeep rely on their strength and bravado. Cover defender Jeeva, once part of the legendary U Mumba line-up, has lost some of his speed and has hence put in a lot of mistimed, and seemingly unnecessary, dashes.
Of the two finalists, Patna is a more complete, better-rounded team.
Throughout the season, they have shown teams how to be aggressive in defence and tackle as a unit. In the semi-final against UP, they were scary good.
During the auction, Pirates not only let go of their talisman Pardeep Narwal but also brought in a relatively unknown Mohammedreza Chiyaneh. The young, big-built Irani defender, who mans the left corner, has been a revelation and is the most successful defender this season with 87 tackle points from 23 matches.
Even though Patna’s defence has ruled the roost, their raiders are not too far behind. The experienced Prashanth Kumar Rai has distributed the raiding duties brilliantly between Sachin, Guman Singh and himself. Guman, in fact, has done well enough to take the place of the experienced Monu Goyat from the starting seven. The only possible weakness for Patna has been their raiders’ vulnerability in Super Tackle situations.
Player battles
The most obvious battle during the final will be between Chiyaneh and Naveen. Both players have been instrumental in their teams making the final, and will be hoping to finish the campaign on a high.
There are a few doubts over the fitness of Naveen, who has been struggling with a knee injury in the latter half. The youngster turned his knee awkwardly while coming out of a raid against the Bengaluru Bulls in the semi-final and it will be interesting to see if it will hamper his performance in the final.
Either way, it won’t be an easy prospect for the right raider to steal bonus points from under the nose of Chiyaneh.
Chiyaneh, more famous by his middle name Shadloui, is a prototypical Irani defender: built like an ox and tons of swagger. He has come into his own in the last few matches and become the pillar of the team’s defence. What the Irani also does by drawing all the attention to himself, is give his teammates a more opportunities to pounce on an unsuspecting raider.
In the second match against Delhi, Naveen was brought down more often by Shubham Shinde. In a bid to escape Chiyaneh’s stranglehold, Naveen drifted over to the right corner and found his match. One of the highlights of the match was when Shinde clasped Naveen in a back hold during a raid in the first half and, with the raider inches away from the mid-line, pinned him down singlehandedly.
Manjeet is one of the most experienced players in the League, having played in every season so far, but has never been a part of a championship team. Though the all-rounder is a step slower, he has a knack of pulling off solo advanced tackles — a throwback on his wrestling days.
The veteran will be keen on keeping a lid on Patna’s lead raider Sachin (163 points in 22 matches). Though Sachin has flown under the radar for most part of the season, he has been incredibly consistent for the Patna Pirates. The tall raider using his wingspan very well, whether during running hand touches or while plotting the escape.
History favours Patna
Patna is the most successful team in the League’s history, having scored a hat-trick of titles in 2016 and 2017. They have been in the Pro Kabaddi finals thrice and won each of those matches convincingly: 37-29 against Jaipur Pink Panthers in 2016 (January), 31-28 against U Mumba in 2016 (June), 55-38 against Gujarat Giants in 2017.
Delhi, meanwhile, has scripted a turnaround in the last two seasons. The under-achievers in the League in the first six seasons, Delhi reached their first final last season. Though Naveen scored 18 points in the final, Delhi went down 39-34 to the Bengal Warriors.
Patna has the pedigree; Delhi the firepower.
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