Kabaddi
Pro Kabaddi 2022: Return of Fazel, Pardeep Narwal back in form- Major takeaways from week 2
With the second week of Pro Kabaddi League 2022 concluded, here are some major takeaways from the second week of PKL 9.
With 29 matches played and two weeks gone, PKL Season 9 is coming into full flow with brilliant raids and tackles flying around.
Dabang Delhi and Naveen Express have been unstoppable and Patna Pirates have hit a roadblock despite having a stellar squad.
We look at the key takeaways from the second week of Pro Kabaddi League 2022:
Patna Pirates Conundrum
Three-time champions and season 8 runner-ups Patna Pirates have hit a roadblock with a Mercedes.
The absence of a leader like Prashanth Kumar Rai and the influence of Coach Ram Mehar Singh is clearly visible in the gameplay. Reckless advance tackles, inadequate usage of raiders and no strategy to counter the opponent are hurting them the most.
Only Sachin Tanwar is performing at the highest level and even if he is supported 50% by his teammates, Patna Pirates will make it to the top half of the table.
No stopping Dabang Delhi and Naveen Express
In contrast to last year's runner-ups, the defending champions are staying true to the Dabang nature of their team and bulldozing every opponent.
A young unit which thrives on the fearless brand of Kabaddi, Dabang Delhi has done everything right this season. The composure to win close games makes them the best unit in PKL 9.
In their game against Haryana Steelers, the hunger shown by Naveen at the last minute to win the game differentiates them as a champion side.
Tactical Disasters
In the second week, we witnessed some tactical blunders from teams. The one standing out is the last-minute blunder from Siddharth Desai of Telugu Titans against Puneri Paltan.
With 25 seconds to go in the game, Siddharth scored a point equalizing the score for Telugu Titans but he returned back with 1 second on the clock and it gave Puneri Paltan another chance to raid.
Aslam Inamdar come strong in the last raid and secured the win for Puneri Paltan. Indeed, Kabaddi is a game played in the mind more than the mat.
Return of Fazel Atrachali
With the visa issues sorted out, the Iranian superstars returned to Pro Kabaddi League. While the other stars are yet to do something worthy, the biggest of them all Fazel Atrachali had his impact from the first game he played.
Captaining a young Puneri Paltan, the experience and calmness of Fazel helped Puneri Paltan sail through crucial moments and win two close games against U Mumba and Telugu Titans.
