Welcome to Sportstar's live blog of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Shyam Vasudevan and I will be taking you through the PKL 8 match between Gujarat Giants and Dabang Delhi.
Meanwhile, 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:
Alright then, that brings us to the end of our Pro Kabaddi League coverage for the day. We will be back tomorrow. See you then!
We've got another cracker of a contest in store as Bengaluru Bulls take on defending champion Bengal Warriors. My colleague Lavanya is covering that game and you can follow it here -
What a thrilling end to the contest! Naveen Kumar is Dabang Delhi's saviour yet again as he scores a point in the last raid of the game to steer his side to a 24-24 tie with Gujarat Giants. Naveen was, to no surprises, the star performer of the game as he scored 11 points and brought up his third successive Super 10 of the season. Gujarat Giants' defence endured a poor outing and Manpreet Singh's side banked on Rakesh Narwal's nine points to keep them in the reckoning. Dabang Delhi's defenders had a woeful evening with Manjeet and Jeeva managing zero points.
24-24 WE HAVE A TIE! Naveen Kumar escapes the clutches of Ravinder Pahal's tackle and pockets the all-important point.
24-23 Rakesh gets the big point! He gets a touch on Joginder Narwal and has given Gujarat Giants the lead with seven seconds to go!
23-23 Neeraj Narwal is introduced off the bench and he's asked to go in for a do-or-die raid. He's no match for the Gujarat Giants defence though.
22-23 This is just poor from Mahendera - he has stepped off bounds yet again and that's a schoolboy error! It's the season of gifts and he's gifted Dabang Delhi a massive point here. Two minutes to go!
22-22 Vijay heads deep into the Gujarat Giants half and is trapped in a super ankle hold.
21-22 Two back to back empty raids from Naveen. Dabang Delhi's next raid will be a do-or-die raid!
This match is going right down to the wire, phew!
21-22 That is a solid tackle from Vijay! He absolutely spears Rakesh, who seems to be running away with at least a point, and shoves him off court with a stupendous tackle.
21-21 That's just poor defending from Gujarat Giants. Parvesh traps Vijay with a thigh hold but gets no support and Vijay wriggles to safety. More importantly, Naveen is back on the mat!
21-20 That is massive! Rakesh does the trick this time around as he gets rid of the entire right defensive chain -- Jeeva and Ashu -- and bags two points. Gujarat Giants has taken the lead with six minutes left!
19-20 How good has Rakesh Narwal been today? He bags the bonus point and a touch on a Dabang Delhi defender to scalp two crucial points. Gujarat Giants is only one point away from Dabang Delhi and Naveen Kumar is on the bench!
17-20 Vijay does so so well to get rid of Mahendra Rajput! A super running hand touch from him.
17-19 Naveen has been tackled for the first time today, courtesy of a fine tackle from right corner Sunil.
16-19 That was vicious from Vijay! He gets a touch on Pahal with a scorpion kick.
16-18 Jeeva makes the error this time around for Dabang Delhi as he's undone by Rakesh.
15-18 Mahendra did so well to win a point in his last raid and now he steps into the lobby....that's just disappointing for the Gujarat Giants.
15-16 If Naveen is consistent with winning points, Manjeet is consistent with the poor tackles. He goes after Mahendra but it's a shoddy tackle.
Naveen has the most Super 10s in PKL - 33.
14-16 SUPER 10 FOR NAVEEN KUMAR! That's his third Super 10 in a row and the 24th successive Super 10 in his career. WOW! Naveen is simply growing from strength to strength.
14-15 Rakesh tries the Dubki, but to no avail as Sandeep Narwal reads that really well ans tackles him to the floor.
14-13 Mahendera Rajput, who came on just a few minutes ago, gets the better of Jeeva. It's a rather strange tackle from Jeeva as he goes after Mahendra despite the latter retreating back to his half.
13-13 Vijay does exactly what Rakesh did and steps into the lobby. He returns he favour.
12-13 Rakesh is a tad too eager there and steps into the lobby! One point gifted to Dabang Delhi.
12-12 Manjeet goes for it....and walks to the bench. He lunges to make a thigh hold on Rakesh Narwal but can't get the desired connection.
The first half ends with Dabang Delhi holding on to a one-point lead. Naveen Kumar was on song yet again as he picked up eight points and was a constant menace for the Gujarat Giants defenders. Gujarat Giants, famed for its defence, has managed only two tackle points so far and has largely banked on the two Rakeshs, one a raider and the other an all-rounder, to keep the scoreboard ticking.
11-12 HALF-TIME!
10-12 Naveen gets Parvesh with a stunning scorpion kick. Parvesh, traditionally a cover, plays as a left corner and was evidently out of position there.
10-10 Vijay heads in on a do-or-die raid and is sent packing! Ravinder Pahal finally gets a point as he throws in a double thigh hold.
The Gujarat Giants has picked up only one tackle point so far. That's something!
9-9 Naveen just doing Naveen things...he gets the better of Sunil and has already racked up seven points!
Manjeet, Ajay and Jeeva are the three defenders son the court for Dabang Delhi. This could spell trouble.
9-7 Rakesh wriggles out of Joginder's ankle hold and skips away to safety.
Ajay has just gone on to raid! Wow, is someone in the Dabang Delhi team reading our blog? (hehe)
8-7 Rakesh is too quick for Jeeva and sends the latter back to the bench.
Still unsure of what Ajay Thakur's role is in this team....he hasn't raided yet. Is he playing as a defender? Because he hasn't had a tackle yet either!?!
7-7 Pahal is off the mat, again! He's caught completely off-position and it's almost too easy for Naveen, who waltzes away with a point.
7-6 Rakesh Narwal continues to do what he does best, get those singe point raids.
6-6 Vijay claims his first point of the evening as he gets rid of Ravinder Pahal, who's sporting some sort of a mullet.
6-5 Jeeva held Manjeet back for so long, but there's only so much patience Manjeet can have. He makes a very late, poorly-timed tackle and Rakesh and can't get it right.
5-5 Naveen is at it again and he's taken out Sunil Kumar this time! The Gujarat Giants are finding it really hard to contain the Naveen Express.
3-4 Sunil and Parvesh, the most feared defensive combination in the league, combine to tackle Vijay.
2-4 Naveen Kumar - that's just too good! Naveen knew he had Ravinder Pahal in his sights and does extremely well to get a hand touch on him. Naveen has gotten rid of both of Gujarat Giants' corners now.
2-2 Rakesh strikes! He gets a running hand touch on Sandeep, the one who eliminated him last time.
0-2 Naveen Kumar scores off his first raid!
0-1 Sandeep Narwal in action straight away as he grabs Rakesh Narwal and denies the raider any points.
Dabang Delhi won the toss, chose court, and Gujarat Giants will raid first.
--
7:29pm: So the Dabang Delhi mis-firing veterans in defence, Manjeet and Jeeva, find a place in the starting seven again. Ajay stars too, and will be looking to get his campaign well and truly going today. Same is the case for Gujarat Giants captain Sunil, who is one of the best defender in the league but has failed to open his account yet.
7:25pm: Here's how the two sides will start today -
Gujarat Giants: Rakesh Narwal, Sunil Kumar, Parvesh Bhainswal, Sonu Singh, Rakesh, Ravinder Pahal, Girish Ernak
Dabang Delhi: Naveen Kumar, Joginder Narwal, Ajay Thakur, Jeeva Kumar, Manjeet Chillar, Vijay, Sandeep Narwal
7:15pm: Head to head stats - The two teams have faced-off eight times in PKL and Gujarat Giants have won five of those encounters! Dabang Delhi will be itching to add a third win against Gujarat Giants to its tally.
7:10pm: Gujarat Giants, as they have in the past, have stuck to fortifying their defence. The side has roped in Ravinder Pahal too and features one of the best defensive line-ups in the League. However, the defence was a little shaky in the loss to Bengal Warriors and struggled to contain the likes of Nabibakhsh and Maninder. Gujarat Giants coach Manpreet Singh, a player himself until not so long ago, is a fantastic tactician and is known to rope in young talent and mould them into stars tommorrow. He did that with Sachin Tanwar (Patna Pirates' second raider this year) and is grooming Rakesh Narwal as his side's primary raider this time around. Rakesh has already scored 18 points in two games.
7:05pm: Along with plenty of experience also come a host of problems for Dabang Delhi. The defence is home to veteran defenders in Manjeet Chillar (one successful tackle in five attempts) and Jeeva Kumar (two successful tackles in seven attempts), who were poor in the last game against U Mumba and the game before that against Puneri Paltan. Then there is Ajay Thakur, whose role in the team is yet to really be ascertained. Coach Krishnan Kumar Hooda has a lot of thinking to do to choose his best starting 7!
7pm: 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 -
6:55pm: Naveen will face a stiff challenge in the Gujarat Giants defence today, which features the likes of Ravinder Pahal, Girish Ernak, Sunil Kumar and Parvesh Bhainswal!
6:50pm: Hey guys, Shyam here and welcome to the first of two PKL blogs today. The first game of the evening will see Gujarat Giants, a side notorious for its watertight defence, against a new-look Dabang Delhi side that will bank on Naveen Kumar's brilliance. Naveen has been a knight in shining armor for Dabang Delhi and a league-high of 31 points in two matches.
Meanwhile, 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:
Hey folks, welcome to another day of Pro Kabaddi League action! It's day 4 of action in Bengaluru and we have three more interesting fixtures to dive into today.
Before we introduce you to the fixtures of the day, here's a look at the results from the first three days -
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