Pro Kabaddi League 2018, Patna Leg: 5 hits and misses from the Patna Pirates
Defending Pro Kabaddi League champions Patna Pirates capped off their home leg with a thrilling 29-27 win over the Bengal Warriors in their last assignment at home, the Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna.
Struck a blow ahead of the contest with Pardeep Narwal missing out owing to a wrist injury, the Pirates were forced to settle without the presence of their talismanic skipper as left corner defender Jaideep led the team.
In what was dubbed as the 'coming of a full circle' for the Pirates, Deepak Narwal and Manjeet combined to nip away with the points while Tushar Patil, subbed on from the benches, contributed with four vital points. Jaideep's vicious ankle holds and blocks came to the fore as the Bengal Warriors, sans-Maninder Singh, could not find their raiding prowess.
However, Patna's struggles were out in the open as a win in their first game and last game at home was sandwiched by four losses on the trot and one massive 32-53 loss at the hands of the Telugu Titans.
Pardeep Narwal's lack of form was a major contributor to Patna's spate of losses as their skipper amassed only 49 points from 5 games, a far cry from his usual self while Deepak Narwal, the team's second-best raider in the leg, contributed just 15 points.
Manjeet, who started off in fine fashion, slowly faded away as he picked up just 25 points from six matches while on the defense front, Vikas Kale's dashes fetched him 13 points from six matches.
In the end, the Pirates finished with just two wins and two times the number of losses, as the home crowd in attendance had to leave with bitter-sweet memories. Here are the hits and misses from the Pirates.
#5 Miss - Lack of defensive cohesion
The Pirates retained a host of defenders for the season who were expected to come good for the defending champions. However, in the home leg, the crucial part of support went missing in the defensive unit that played a major role in Patna's campaign.
Jaideep went about his task with certain consistency but apart from the left corner, Vikas Kale's dashes came at certain moments. Manjeet's surprise ankle holds and Ravinder Kumar's holds were sporadic.
Kuldeep Singh failed to convert a start but was a good contributor as he was subbed on. Jawahar Dagar could not cement his spot in the team while Vijay was more prominent as a raider than a defender.
In the end, the defenders did enjoy their moments but they failed to stitch together their performances, as they fell to shocking losses.