Puneri Paltan raider Pankaj Mohite plays against Bengaluru Bulls despite head injury
Puneri Paltan raider Pankaj Mohite showed his immense commitment after playing against Bengaluru Bulls following a head injury.
For the unversed, Pankaj is a right raider for Puneri Paltan, who has been with the side since Pro Kabaddi 2019. He generally plays a supporting role to skipper Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat.
Puneri Paltan’s management has shown great trust in him, especially Aslam Inamdar, who is constantly seen guiding and motivating him throughout the game. And Pankaj hasn’t disappointed them, as he constantly delivers whatever is asked of him.
In the 33rd match of PKL 2023, Puneri Paltan took on the Bengaluru Bulls at the Balewadi Stadium. This was the last game of Pune’s home leg and they started with the aim to end on a high note.
The Paltan’s starting seven included Pankaj Mohite, who was seen with his head bandaged. He suffered a head injury in Pune’s previous fixture against Dabang Delhi KC while attempting a tackle.
It was surprising to see Pankaj start for Pune even though they have multiple backup raiders like Akash Shinde, Aditya Shinde, and Nitin on the bench. During the post-match press conference, Puneri Paltan coach BC Ramesh cleared all the doubts on why Pankaj started in the lineup.
It turned out that the coach asked Pankaj to take a rest but the latter wanted to contribute.
“We asked Pankaj to take a rest, but he was confident enough to play. He said the injury is not much, and he can play. Pankaj also said that if he doesn't play well, then substitute him and bring in another raider,” stated BC Ramesh.
PKL 2023: Pankaj Mohite’s performance against Bengaluru Bulls
Pankaj Mohite had a decent outing in Puneri Paltan’s huge 43-18 win over the Bengaluru Bulls. Although Pankaj plays as the third raider for Pune, we saw Aslam Inamdar sending him for raids on multiple occasions. He made a total of 11 raids in the game and secured four raid points while being unsuccessful just twice.
Pankaj also secured one tackle point, showing that he can be handy in defense as well. He was later substituted out in the 36th minute after Pune were already ahead by a big margin.