Pro Kabaddi League 2018 Final: Here's how Bengaluru Bulls "Pawan'd" their way to the trophy
BENGALURU BULLS HAVE WON THE SIXTH SEASON OF PRO KABADDI LEAGUE!!! Yes, the fans were teary-eyed with ecstasy the moment commentators broadcasted the triumph of the Bulls. Oh, what an amazing day that was!
The players of both Bengaluru Bulls and Gujarat Fortune Giants never had a much more crucial morning than that of January 5. I am sure that the players were stoked for the final match, and nervousness was in the air. You don't get a chance to play in the finals every day, right?
Dome NSCI at Mumbai was overcrowded with fans and Kabaddi lovers. Faces painted red and orange were blooming like flowers. In no time, the host, Mantra, announced the entry of the first team of the night, i.e., Gujarat Fortune Giants.
Chants of Garjega Gujarat was what made the whole ambiance buoyant. Even the people who were watching the ultimate faceoff from their television screens were charged with immense fervor and enthusiasm.
Shortly, Bengaluru Bulls made a cracking appearance with Full Charge Maadi playing in the background. Just after Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor completed singing the national anthem, both captains were called for the toss, which was won by Rohit Kumar.
Seconds after the toss, Vrajesh Hirjee, the host next to Mantra, kicked off the finale with the war cry of "Line Drawn, Game On, Khel Ka..Ba...Ddi...!"
Sachin, from Gujarat, went ahead for the first raid of the night and got tackled by Mahender. The iconic purple-orange mat was set on fire ever since that first raid.
Not going into extreme detail about every second of the match (see the irony here?), but the first nine minutes saw an extreme game. Both the teams were going neck to neck. Then all of a sudden, Gujarat started showing their top game, which they are well-known for and took up the lead.
The first half came to an end as the scoreboard displayed 16-9 with Gujarat in the lead. For some strange reason, Rohit Kumar did not score a single point! Even the defense of Bangalore made many rookie errors. What was wrong? Pawan Sehrawat, despite suffering, tried to pitch in with some points.
On the other hand, Gujarat was one step closer to winning that trophy. Both the offense and defense were playing their best like they had nothing to lose.
The second half kicked off with the same energy as that of the first. This was when the game turned upside-down. Gujarat already had a significant lead, which they had to maintain. Well, if you have seen Pawan Sehrawat play, you already knew the expectations everybody had.
Somewhere around the twenty-fifth minute in the match, Pawan performed a raid with just three players left on the court. Umpires declared it a Toofani super raid! I believe reviews are the best thing that happened as Gujarat, who was uncertain about the super raid, opted for one.
It was not a super raid, but that was the moment of the match. Shortly after Pawan's two-pointer, Bengaluru inflicted an all-out on Gujarat and got into the lead. Manpreet Singh was seen advising his team in the short time-out which he called for.
As the time passed, Bengaluru was once again successful in giving Gujarat an all-out. Let me tell you, Pawan was behind all this. He constantly scored multiple points raids and gifted his team a wonderful lead. Now that Gujarat was way behind, even the players gave up.
The final whistle was blown the whole atmosphere was shining like a diamond with Bulls' fans tearing up with joy. Pawan Kumar Sehrawat was the ultimate hero here. Pardeep Narwal scored 19 points in season 5's finale. How many did Pawan score? A frigging 22! That's wickedly excellent!
The full team of Bangalore was indulged into the celebration. Fans, players and commentators were hugging each other. It was like a festival painted in red! Such a mesmerizing sight it was!
Awards were given to all the officials and the runner-up of the match. The best part was Bengaluru Bulls lifting the trophy and biting their gold medal. Why not? They worked like crazy for that!
In the post-award ceremony interview, Pawan stood next to his idol and coach Randhir Sehrawat, with a smile pasted on his face. In the interview, Pawan told that Randhir sir was like his father and he won the trophy for him.
The whole interview was full of emotion. Coach Randhir also said that he just wanted Pawan and Co. to play their best game ever. He was immensely proud of Pawan for scoring 282 points in season 6.
Randhir Sehrawat initially wanted Pawan to score 150 points. Once he achieved that milestone, the coach asked him for 200. Pawan once again fulfilled his wishes and eventually ended up scoring the most number of points this season.
Well, we couldn't have asked for anything better than this. A huge congratulation to Bengaluru Bulls for winning the sixth edition of PKL! Well played, boys!