Bengal Warriors live to tell a tale of an incredible comeback as they came from behind to overturn a six-point deficit against Dabang Delhi KC to lift their maiden Pro Kabaddi title. The victory turned sweeter as the Warriors were able to pull this off in the absence of their talismanic skipper Maninder Singh whose absence had left a huge void in the offence.
A fantastic season, to say the least, season seven lived up to all the hype surrounding it and gifted us some brilliant performances. Courtesy of stars like Pardeep Narwal, Pawan Kumar Sehrawat and other, we were witness to a number of raiding masterclasses on the mat.
Here we take a look at some of the raiding stints in season seven that left us wonderstruck.
Pawan Sehrawat (39 points) vs Haryana Steelers
The Bengaluru Bulls raider has been a one-stop-shop for collecting maximum points and outsmarting opposition defences. So, when he turned up in a league encounter against Haryana Steelers with a performance of a lifetime, one could only watch in sheer joy. Flagbearer of Bengaluru’s offence strikes, Pawan bagged a total of 39 points in the game, creating a record for the most points garnered in a single match.
Read: Can Pawan Kumar Sehrawat become the new king of Pro Kabaddi?
In the first half itself, the 23-year-old scored 18 points to overcome an eight-point deficit and strengthen his team’s position. However, in the second half, Pawan completely destroyed Haryana’s defence and broke Pardeep Narwal’s record (34 points) of most points in a single match. Astonishingly, Pardeep was present in the stadium, witnessing the genius of Pawan in full flow and could only appreciate the youngsters’ resolve. The ‘Hi-Flyer’ also became the recipient of another record on the night – scoring all his team’s raid points.
Pardeep Narwal (36 points) vs Bengal Warriors
The ‘Dubki King’ was only second best to Pawan this season as he ended up with a total of 302 raid points in the season seven charts. However, his magnum opus in the recently concluded seventh season came against title winners Bengal Warriors. Patna Pirates were playing their last match of the season after failing to make the Playoffs and Pardeep picked this as the ideal moment to see off his season.
Read: Pardeep Narwal: The lone warrior for Patna Pirates
After picking up a spectacular five-point raid earlier, he completed his Super 10 in the last moments of the first half and took Patna’s lead to 10 points. In the dying moments of the match, the veteran raider delivered one of his finest moments of the season as he scored a huge six-point raid. He eventually ended up crossing the 300-point mark in the season for the second time in his career.
Siddharth Desai (23 points) vs Bengaluru Bulls
The Bal in ‘Baahubali’ Siddharth Desai wasn’t there to be seen in the initial stages of the competition but the Telugu Titans raider soon found his groove. However, after a series of mediocre performances. his most spellbinding one came against Bengaluru where despite being on the losing side, Desai ended up scoring 23 of his side’s 39 points.
Read: Has the ‘Bal’ in Baahubali Siddharth Desai gone for a toss?
In a closely fought encounter, Desai turned the tides in the favour of his team as he brought them back from 27-35 to level the scores at 36-36 within a matter of a couple of raids. Although Desai had to settle for a disheartening loss, his superlative performance soon became the talk of his revival.
Naveen Kumar (19 points) vs Puneri Paltans
The ‘Most Valued Player (MVP)’ of the seventh season of Pro Kabaddi saved his team plenty of times from the crux of defeat, but his iconic performance against Puneri Paltan stands out at a different level altogether. Naveen put up a career-defining performance as Delhi dominated the team from Pune.
Read: Why Naveen Kumar is the next big thing in Pro Kabaddi?
Puneri Paltan found it difficult to tackle Naveen on the night as he racked up point after point for his team. Delhi were able to reach the 60-point mark and Naveen was utterly at the helm of his game. Although Delhi might have lost in the final to Bengal, Naveen ended up with a record 22 Super 10’s to his name in the season.
Feature image courtesy: Star Sports & Pro Kabaddi
