Sandeep Narwal, best defender of Pro Kabaddi League season three
The third season of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi had a grandstand finish as the Patna Pirates rallied thanks to their resurgent defense in the semi-final and the final clinched their maiden Pro Kabaddi League title with a 31-28 win over U Mumba.
Patna Pirates, a team known for its raiding abilities showed just how important defense is in Kabaddi in the final two games that saw them grab 27 tackle points in total.
The league saw some really good performances in defense, but for his two man of the match performances in the semi-final and final, Sandeep Narwal pips Puneri Paltan's Manjeet Chhillar to the Best Defender award.
Narwal helped protect his team throughout the tournament, acting as a shield and stopping opposition raiders, just like Castrol Activ’s Actibonds protect the engine even when its off. Narwal, who started out as a battering all-rounder in the first season, grew into an even better player in the second season as he skippered the Patna Pirates side into the semi-finals, at times playing like a one-man army last season.
However, with the signings of Pardeep Narwal, Rohit Kumar and Manpreet Singh, he was able to focus solely on his defending and that certainly paid dividends for the Pirates.
With 53 successful tackles in the competition, Sandeep Narwal set up games for the marauding Patna Pirates raiders to destroy their opponents. Thanks to his relentless efforts from the right corner, Patna pulled away from the rest of the league with a ten game unbeaten streak.
It was only during Sandeep Narwal's absence that their winning run came to a halt. Once he returned from the South Asian Games, Patna confirmed their semi-final berth.
The Pirates though seemed to have peaked too early and didn't enter the semi-finals in the best form. However, Narwal's inspirational play at the right corner took the Pirates back to heights they had scaled in the early parts of the season.
Sandeep Narwal absolutely tortured right raiders like Manjeet Chhillar, Ajay Thakur and Deepak Hooda in the semi-finals and made the Paltan's raiders completely redundant. A high five in the semi-finals helped the Patna Pirates crush the Puneri Paltan by 19 points as they entered their maiden final.
Sandeep Narwal had another trick up his sleeve and with seven tackle points in the game completely owned the U Mumba raiders. Narwal identified Rishank Devadiga to be U Mumba's chief threat and caught him more than once. With Rishank failing, U Mumba failed to conquer the Pirates and conceded the Pro Kabaddi title to them.
Narwal once again proved his mettle and at just 22 years, has plenty of kabaddi ahead of him. This is definitely not the last best defender award he will win in his life as he looks to continue his dominance on the mat.