Star Sports Pro Kabaddi Season 4 in numbers: All the Stats and Records broken
The fourth edition of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi (PKL) ended with Patna Pirates lifting the trophy after beating Jaipur Pink Panthers in the final played at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad. Plenty of records were set and milestones reached in the 37-day tournament, which was the most competitive season in PKL history.
Let’s take a look at the season in numbers and all the records that were created in the past month:
1 – Season 4 was the first time U Mumba did not play in the final. Having lost in the final in Seasons 1 and 3 while lifting the title in the second season, the team from Mumbai failed to qualify for the semis for the very first time in season 4.
1 – U Mumba suffered their first loss in their home leg during the league stage when Bengal Warriors trumped them 31-27 at the NSCI Stadium. They ended up losing to Bengaluru Bulls the very next day to make it 2 losses in 16 home matches.
1 – Season 4 was the first time a foreigner scooped up any of the season ending awards. Fazel Atrachali was adjudged as the Best Defender of the Tournament after he completed 45 tackles en route to winning the title.
2 – Patna Pirates became the first team to win two titles after they beat Jaipur Pink Panthers in the final on 31st July. In the process, they also defended their title – another first.
3 – This is the third time out of four seasons that the team finishing top of the league stage went on to win the title. The only exception was in Season 3 when Patna Pirates won the title despite finishing second during the group stage.
4 – Dharmaraj Cheralathan equalled the record for the most super tackles in a single match. The 41-year-old completed 4 super tackles against Bengal Warriors to help his team win 35-21 in Patna.
8 – Patna Pirates’ 8-point win over Jaipur Pink Panthers in the final is the second biggest margin for a win in a final ever. The biggest margin of victory in a final is 11 points when the Pink Panthers beat U Mumba in Season 1.
8 – Dharmaraj Cheralathan completed 8 super tackles in the season, the most by a player across all the 4 seasons.
11 – Puneri Paltan captain Manjeet Chhillar created the record for the most tackle points (11) in a single match. In the match against Bengaluru Bulls, the 29-year-old broke Surender Nada’s long standing record of 10 tackle points in a match.
11 – Ajay Kumar of Jaipur Pink Panthers, who was named the rising player of the tournament, scored the most points (11) by a substitute in Season 4 in a 28-33 loss vs Puneri Paltan.
13 – The most points scored in a match by a foreigner in Season 4. Jang Kun Lee scored 13 points in Bengal Warriors’ 32-25 win over Jaipur Pink Panthers in Kolkata before matching that output against Telugu Titans in a 34-34 draw 2 days later.