Pro Kabaddi 2022: Injured Pawan, Non-stop Naveen- Major takeaways from week 1

With the first week of Pro Kabaddi League 2022 concluding with a brilliant match day, defending champions Dabang Delhi lead the standings after winning all three games.

A lot of action and drama transpired in the first week of PKL 9 with 15 games played.

Here are the key takeaways from the first week of PKL Season 9:

Injury of superstar raider Pawan Sehrawat

The biggest news from the first week of Pro Kabbadi League Season 9 is the injury of superstar raider Pawan Sehrawat.

The most expensive player in PKL history twisted his leg while attempting a tackle on Gujarat Giants captain Chandran Ranjit in the opening game. Pawan was in visible pain after the twist and he had to be stretchered out during the game. His injury leaves Tamil Thalaivas without its leader and PKL without its biggest star.

Tamil Thalaivas coach D. Udaya Kumar mentioned that Pawan is not only important for Tamil Thalaivas but also for the Indian national team and he is being handled very carefully at the moment.

Irani kabaddi stars missing

With 13 Irani kabaddi players signed with nine different teams, Iran has the largest foreign contingent in Pro Kabaddi League. With all the Irani players facing some visa issues, teams like Patna Pirates, Puneri Paltan, and Haryana Steelers missed their stars.

Although the players are back now and Shadlu already started one game for Patna Pirates. The second week will have the majority of Irani stars featured.

Naveen Express and Dabang Delhi's comeback

The star boy of Indian kabaddi, Naveen Kumar Goyat has been doing things only he can do. Naveen has scored 41 raid points in just three games with a super 10 in every game. Not only Naveen, his team defending champions Dabang Delhi has pulled two back-to-back comebacks to stun everyone.

In their second game against Gujarat Giants, Delhi made comeback early in the first half. In the third game against UP Yoddhas, Delhi trailed during half-time and for most of the 2nd half but made a monstrous comeback to defeat Yoddhas by 2 points.

The true character of champions is shown by a young captain and his young squad.

Young players stepping up

The first week was headlined by youngsters. Manjeet (Haryana Steelers), Narender Kandola (Tamil Thalaivas), Krishan Dhull (Dabang Delhi), Ankush Rathee (Jaipur Pink Panthers), Jai Bhagwan (U Mumba), Vinay (Telugu Titans) are the talk of town.

While some of them have stepped up in absence of their leader while some have been brilliant on the mat. Such a performance is a statement and it promises to be an exciting season.

Experienced players not living to expectations

It has been an underwhelming start for the seasoned campaigners of Pro Kabaddi with most of them putting in a dismal performance. Experience players such as Pardeep Narwal, Rahul Chaudhari, and Ravinder Pahal are still not up to the mark.

Experiences defence units such as Patna Pirates and Telugu Titans have to make their mark on the tournament. The interesting part will be how these players come back to form once the tournament progress.