Pro Kabaddi Highlights: Dabang Delhi beats U Mumba; Naveen Kumar becomes fastest to reach 500 points in PKL history
Pro Kabaddi League LIVE: Get PKL 8 live score and commentary as Dabang Delhi takes on U Mumba in Bengaluru on Friday.
Published : Dec 24, 2021 18:25 IST
Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live blog of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Shyam Vasudevan bringing you the coverage for the day.
That brings us to the end of our coverage for this game. Tamil Thalaivas will take on Bengaluru Bulls in a few minutes from now and my colleague Lavanya is blogging that one. You can follow it live here -
You can also check out our Kings of Kabaddi series from PKL 7 - a happier time pre-COVID when we got to physically sit down with some of the biggest names in the league and hear their stories. You can check out all episodes here. Here's a candid chat we had with Naveen Kumar last year, where he talks about how he's the chief prankster in the team and how he was once tricked into eating methi (fenugreek) laddoos !
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Naveen Kumar comes to Dabang Delhi's rescue as he scores a staggering 17 points to propel his side to a 31-27 win over U Mumba. Naveen got off to a rather muted start but stormed into the limelight with a remarkable comeback. Ajith Kumar stood out for U Mumba as be bagged seven points and was the side's leading scorer today, eclipsing even Abhishek Singh.
Dabang Delhi's defence, featuring veterans like Manjeet Chillar (one successful tackle in five attempts) and Jeeva Kumar (two successful tackles in seven attempts) faltered yet again but Naveen came to the rescue. In the process, Naveen became the fastest to reach 500 points in the PKL and also brought up his 23rd successive Super 10. The Naveen Express is well and truly motoring ahead!
| FT: Dabang Delhi beats U Mumba 31-27 |
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| U Mumba - Dabang Delhi |
26-31 Naveen scores a bonus point and we have only 40 seconds left on the clock!
26-29 Ajith is too quick for the Dabang Delhi defence! He storms in, gets a touch on Manjeet (who seems to have no clue) and darts away with the point.
25-29 Ajith is in and out in less than 10 seconds as he draws a poor tackle from Sandeep.
24-29 Oh my word, that is truly sensational from Naveen! It's a Super Raid as he gets rid of not one, not two, but three U Mumba men! This man is a different breed altogether - an absolute enigma.
24-26 That's HUGE from Abhishek! Manjeet is the guilty party yet again and is sent to the bench after a poor ankle hold in Abhishek.
23-26 The Dabang Delhi defence joins the party and Joginder Narwal shows us how it's done. He runs into Ajith and finds support in Naveen to complete the tackle.
Two points separating the two sides and we have four minutes on the clock!
23-25 Naveen Kumar, you beauty! He pockets a bonus point and becomes the fastest-ever to reach 500 points in PKL history . Absolutely stunning stuff from the youngster, who's been so very consistent over the last two seasons. Kudos to him.
23-24 This is just too good from Ajith - he gets a touch on Jeeva and sneaks away to safety. He's got rid of two of Dabang Delhi's most senior players in two successive raids!
22-23 Ajith bags a crucial point and gets rid of Manjeet! This one is going down to the wire.
21-23 Solid work from Sandeep there as he shuts out Abhishek and sends U Mumba's star raider straight to the bench.
21-22 SUPER 10! Naveen, for the 23rd successive game, brings up a Super 10. This man reeks of consistency!
21-21 Abhishek gets the better of Jeeva yet again! Jeeva is a tad too eager and Abhishek senses it to get a running a hand touch on him.
"Play for the do-or-die," says Dabang Delhi coach Krishnan Hooda.
20-21 Mohsen heads in for a raid and is taken out with a stunning ankle hold from Joginder and runs into a human wall in Jeeva Kumar.
20-20 ALL OUT! Naveen Kumar secures an All Out and there is nothing to separate the two sides with exactly 10 minutes to go. What a cracking game this is turning out to be!
19-16 Naveen moves onto nine points now and has reduced U Mumba to two men! Naveen is now four points away from becoming the fastest to 500 points.
19-15 No way home there for Abhishek! Sandeep Narwal with a strong ankle hold and the Dabang Delhi defence attacks as a pack to reign him in.
19-14 Naveen is all over the mat as he grabs another raid point now. He truly is in the thick of things here.
19-13 That's a neat tackle from Naveen! Yes, you read that right, Naveen has just scored a tackle point! He gets rid off Ajith with a super hip tackle.
19-12 Solid work from Naveen - he invites a tackle from Mohsen and coolly skips away.
19-10 ALL OUT! Abhishek outmuscles Manjeet and Jeeva, two of the strongest men on the mat, to inflict an All Out and power his side to a massive lead. Game on!
15-10 Fazel throws in a spear there! He literally throws himself at Neeraj Narwal, the Dabang Delhi substitute, and extends his side's lead to five points.
14-10 Great, great work from Dabang Delhi! The three remaining players on the mat - Ajay, Jeeva and Manjeet do remarkably well to keep Abhishek quiet.
14-10 Shivam is at it again as he picks up two massive points in his first raid of the second half!
Dabang Delhi coach Krishnan Kumar Hooda with a blunt message - "Don't let it slip away."
Abhishek has managed only one point so far, while Naveen has managed four. A game of defences, today?
A roller-coaster of an opening half comes to an end with U Mumba leading 12-10. U Mumba did really well to keep Naveen quiet initially, but it was a matter of time before he got going. He had U Mumba down to one man, but Shivam Anil came off the bench to rescue his side with a two-point raid and a tackle on Naveen in the dying moments to ensure his side took the lead.
12-10 SUPER TACKLE! Shivam has turned the tide in U Mumba's favour as he throws an excellent tackle on Naveen. Mohsen jumps to his support and the two claim a Super Tackle and two crucial points.
10-10 Anil Shivam comes off the bench and rescues U Mumba yet again! He secures a bonus and escapes Joginder's tackle.
8-10 There's no stopping Naveen now - he gets a running hand touch on Ashish and U Mumba is down to one man now! An All Out in the offing.
7-9 That's pure class from Naveen. He waits and waits and teases the U Mumba defence and invites a tackle from Rinku before wriggling to safety.
7-8 Naveen pockets his second point as he gets a touch on Harendra. The Naveen Express seems to be up and running!
7-7 Jeeva redeems himself and how! Th right cover charges at Abhishek and Joginder comes to his aid as they shove Abhishek off the mat. That's a huge tackle and a massive morale-booster for the Dabang Delhi defence.
7-6 Naveen finally grabs his first points of the evening! He gets a bonus point and escapes an ankle hold from Fazel. Oh wait, the bonus has been taken away. Just the one point for Naveen.
7-5 Ajay Thakur ventures deep, goes for a touch on Fazel, but has no luck. The defence swoops in to usher him off the mat.
6-5 Anil Shivam comes off the bench and grabs a point for U Mumba in the do-or-die raid. He gets rid of Jeeva, who is once again found sllacking.
No luck for Naveen just yet, that's another empty raid for him! The U Mumba defence has done swimmingly well to keep him quiet.
5-5 Excellent stuff from Vijay here. He gets a touch on Mohsen to bring Dabang Delhi on level terms.
Dabang Delhi has only managed one raid point so far.
5-4 That's an incredible tackle from Joginder! The Dabang Delhi captain traps Abhishek in an ankle hold and yanks him away from the mid-line to pick up his first point of the game.
5-3 No luck this time for Ajith as he gets stuck in a strong thigh hold from Manjeet.
5-2 Taken out! Naveen has been sent to the bench with a monstrous tackle from Fazel. That's got to be the key contest of the evening.
4-2 That's clever play from Ajith! He lures Sandeep into making a tackle and somersaults his way back into his side of the mat.
3-2 The U Mumba defence is piling the pressure on Naveen - he has not managed a point in three raids now!
2-1 Ajay Thakur bags Dabang Delhi's first point if the evening! He skips out of Ashish's ankle-hold and opens his season's tally.
That's a second empty raid in a row for Naveen! He does not even manage a bonus point off his first two raids, that's a mini win in itself for U Mumba.
2-0 That's a bold tackle from Mohsen as he throws in a thigh hold on Vjiay and picks up his first point of the evening.
1-0 Abhishek Singh scores off his first raid! He gets a running hand touch on Jeeva.
0-0 Naveen with the first raid of the evening and he straight away goes for Fazel, but to no avail. That's going to be a competition to watch out for today. -- 7:28pm: So Manjeet and Ajay find themselves in Dabang Delhi's starting 7 again. Ajay played the entire first half last game but did not get a single raid (he's primarily a raider, mind you.) Manjeet, on the other hand, had a forgettable game that could best be attributed to butter fingers - he just couldn't hold on to an opposition raider! A chance to make amends for the two veterans today.
7:25pm: Here's how the two sides will start today -
U Mumba: Fazel Atrachali, Abhishek Singh, Harendra Kumar, Ashish Sangwan, Mohsen Maghsoudlou, Ajith Kumar, Rinku
Dabang Delhi: Joginder Narwal, Naveen Kumar, Ajay Thakur, Manjeet Chillar, Jeeva Kumar, Sandeep Narwal, Vijay
7:20pm: Hey guys, Shyam here. It was great to speak to a few of you at our Twitter Spaces session earlier today. Like we'd discussed there, one of the main concerns this year for Dabang Delhi will be how the team manages to handle it's senior players. The side boasts an abundance of experience in Joginder Narwal, Ajay Thakur, Manjeet Chillar and Jeeva Kumar. The challenge for Dabang Delhi coach Krishnan Hooda would be to keep this team intact and ensure the egos do not get in the way.
7:10pm: Dabang Delhi features a squad with plenty of experience and also the most exciting raider in Naveen Kumar. Naveen took the league by storm last season as he became the youngest player to record a 300-raid point campaign. The agile raider also has the record for the most Super 10s in a season and most consecutive Super 10s to his name as he scored 22 Super 10s in 23 matches last season. He was one of Dabang Delhi's best players last campaign as he scored 303 points and led the side to a runner-up finish. Here's him talking about his time at the club and his love for methi fenugreek) laddoos -
7pm: U Mumba has the upper hand going into the game, as far as head to head stats are concerned. In 16 matches, U Mumba has won 12 games, lost three and tied once.
6:50pm: Dabang Delhi and U Mumba are among the two most solid teams this year. Naveen Kumar - the star raider in the Delhi side - will be the star attraction in this game, but he goes up against the defensive solidity of U Mumba. Abhishek Singh has shown that U Mumba won't just sitting back and Will it come down to whose defense can actually step up? 6:40pm: Coming to today's game, U Mumba is led by the very charismatic Fazel Atrachali. The Iranian is the best-paid foreign player in the PKL and is among the best defenders in the modern age. He orchestrated Iran's win over India at the 2018 Asian Games and led the nation to the gold medal.
Fazel, one of the most entertaining players in the PKL, had a sit-down with us last season and spoke about his love for Bollywood, Indian food and his chance meeting with Amitabh Bachchan -
6:30pm: We are currently in the middle of a Twitter Space discussing all things PKL. Head to our Twitter handle (@Sportstarweb) to listen in.
As you wait for action to begin today, you can also check out our Kings of Kabaddi series from PKL 7 - a happier time pre-COVID when we got to physically sit down with some of the biggest names in the league and hear their stories. You can check out all episodes here.
- MATCHES TODAY: Dabang Delhi vs U Mumba Tamil Thalaivas vs Bengaluru Bulls Bengal Warriors vs Gujarat Giants |
- Day 01 results:
Bengaluru Bulls U Mumba
Telugu Titans 40-40 Tamil Thalaivas
Bengal Warriors UP Yoddha More:
- Day 02 results:
- Gujarat Giants 34-27 Jaipur Pink Panthers
- Dabang Delhi 41-30 Puneri Paltan
- Haryana Steelers 39-42 Patna Pirates
More:
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Hey folks, welcome to another day of Pro Kabaddi League action! It's day 3 of action in Bengaluru and we've seen all the 12 teams in the league take to the mat at least once. Before we introduce you to the fixtures of the day, here's a look at the results from day 1 and 2.
Where to watch PKL 8? You can watch all the games in the Pro Kabaddi League on the Star Sports Network. The matches will also be streamed live on the Disney + Hotstar app |