Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: 5 talking points from Day 7 of PKL 5
The Bengaluru Bulls played their first home game at a new home stadium in Nagpur against Tamil Thalaivas and put in a dominating performance until the last few minutes where they allowed the Thalaivas to give them a scare. Eventually, they did manage to hang on to their one point lead to secure their second victory of the tournament. Tamil Thalaivas are yet to taste success in their debut season in the Pro Kabaddi League.
In the another game of the night, Dabang Delhi, after their loss to Gujarat Fortunegiants, went up against Puneri Paltan but were taken apart by the combination of Rajesh Mondal and Paltan's superior defence to hurtle to their second defeat in Season 5. Here are the 5 talking points from the day.
#1 An all-round performance by Rohit Kumar turns it in Bulls' favour
'What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger,' they say. Rohit Kumar didn’t have the easiest of last year but if the last two games are anything to go by, he has come back really stronger. He had an amazing first game against Telugu Titans and he started from where he left against Tamil Thalaivas on Friday night. What's pleasing to see this season, however, is that Kumar has also added a few dimensions to his game which was well demonstrated in the first half of Bulls’ match against the Tamil Thalaivas.
With just five minutes gone from the match, the Bulls had begun to assert themselves but Thalaivas were not throwing in the towel yet. That’s when Rohit decided to take matters in his hands. He went in for a raid and had it not been for a half-hearted attempt from the defender, he wouldn’t have gotten a point. But that successful raid was enough for Kumar who was in action again when Thalaivas Bhavani Rajput came raiding.
Kumar, known for his raids, showed his immense muscle power to bring him down with an ankle hold. Kumar wasn’t done yet and went to take the raid with just two Thalaivas defenders left on the mat. A calm Rohit wasn’t too keen to inflict an all out and came back with a single raid point. But by then, he had set things in motion and a 6-2 scoreline in favour of his team reflected that.