Pro Kabaddi: Dabang Delhi crowned PKL 2021 Champions

The Dabang Delhi have been crowned the Pro Kabaddi League 2021 champions after defeating the Patna Pirates 37-36 in the final. A miscalculation in using the substitute players left the Pirates without their top raiders in the mat for the final minutes, eventually paying the price.

The Patna Pirates started the match in a dominating fashion, inflicting an all-out on the Dabang Delhi within the first 11 minutes. However, the Dabangs kept hitting back to keep the Pirates on the toes and go into the half-time trailing by just two points at 15-17.

Dabang Delhi continued to mount on the pressure in the second half as the Patna Pirates were down to three or four men for most of the second half. The three-time champions did manage to avoid the all-out for a long time, thanks to Sachin Tanwar's heroics, but they eventually crumbled as the Dabang Delhi took the lead for the first time since the early minutes of the match.

Under pressure for most of the second half, the Patna Pirates think-tank committed two major blunders. First they broke the revival sequence early in the second half, handing Dabang Delhi a technical point before they exhausted all their substitutions just ahead of the all-out with all their four frontline raiders - Sachin Tanwar, Prashanth Rai, Guman Singh and Monu Goyat out of the mat.

The Pirates did manage to give the Dabangs a scare towards the end with multiple quick successful raids from Monu and Mohammadreza Chiyaneh, but all of it went in vain as Naveen Goyat ensured his side bagged the title without any hiccups.