The beauty of kabaddi lies in breathless action and interplay between aggressive, instinctive raiders and cool, calculating defenders. The Star Pro Kabaddi league, approaching the semifinal phase at the NSCI’s Vallabhai Patel stadium, has produced individual brilliance and excellence as a group.
Teams with strong characters as leaders stood out, leaving Jaipur Pink Panthers, U Mumbai, Bengaluru Bulls and Patna Pirates to compete for two final spots on Friday night.
Patna skipper Rakesh Kumar is a huge influence on an off the mat, bringing out the best in younger members, among whom catcher Sandeep Narwal has blossomed into a big-match player. Pakistan all-rounder Waseem Sajjad is a category ‘A’ player making an impact among foreigners taking part in the PKL. Jaipur Pink Panthers, facing off against Patna in the semifinal, have in Navneet Gautam a leader whose presence allows others like raider Jasvir Singh and catcher Rohit Rana to flourish.
Starting off with an away defeat at the hands of U Mumba, Jaipur gelled into a formidable force midway through the league and finished as the league topper (maximum wins 10, minimum defeats three). The players’ confidence boosted by the winning habit, the number one side is a far more cohesive, confident group than the tentative team which went down in the league opener at the NSCI.
Strong-willed captains called the shots in two other semifinalists, Bengaluru Bulls (Manjit Chillar) and U Mumbai (Anup Kumar), slated to clash in a thriller for a final berth. Bengaluru sneaked into the knockout phase with narrow one-point victories at home over Jaipur (30-29) and Telugu Titans (27-26). Ajay Thakur excelled in the offence, Dharmaraj Cheralathan was outstanding in the defence for the former. Skipper Manjit tops the defenders list with 41 points.
U Mumba lost raider Shabeer Sharafudheen to injury after the first leg at home, forcing captain and fellow raider Anup to pull the team through to second position (51 points, three behind leader Jaipur). He remains a threat to every opponent and despite taking on tremendous workload and responsibility, will trouble the Bengaluru defence. Catcher Surender Nada is the other match-winner in the squad and occupies the second place in the defenders list.
Semi-finals matchups: 8.00pm: Jaipur vs Patna. 9.00pm: Mumbai vs Bengaluru. (Star Sports)
