Pro Kabaddi PKL 8 Highlights: Aslam Inamdar shines as Puneri Paltan makes a statement with 12-point win over Bengal Warriors

Pro Kabaddi League Highlights: Get live updates and scores from the PKL 8 game between Puneri Paltan and Bengal Warriors being played in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Updated : Jan 09, 2022 21:55 IST

PKL 8: Aslam Inamdar's Puneri Paltan will hope for a change in fortunes but standing in their way is a formidable Bengal Warriors outfit.
PKL 8: Aslam Inamdar's Puneri Paltan will hope for a change in fortunes but standing in their way is a formidable Bengal Warriors outfit.
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PKL 8: Aslam Inamdar's Puneri Paltan will hope for a change in fortunes but standing in their way is a formidable Bengal Warriors outfit.

Welcome to Sportstar's coverage of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Lavanya Lakshminarayanan and I will be taking you through today's PKL 8 match between Bengal Warriors and Puneri Paltan.

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!

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:

 


If you are a Bengal Warriors fan, this would have been a difficult game to watch given how helpless the Warriors looked in far too many passages during this game. The defence seemed to have left its courage back in their hotel rooms as Aslam Inamdar singlehandedly left them listless. The dependence on Maninder and Nabibakhsh cost the team dearly. Maninder scored yet another Super 10, as he has in the last five games Bengal has played, but once more, he seemed to be fighting this battle alone. Amit Narwal seemed to have decided that he would help Aslam Inamdar rake in points today as he kept being taken out by the imperious allrounder. Much to think about for the Warriors.

Puneri Paltan on the other hand have done so well to prepare for all these weaknesses the Bengal side possesses and won this game on better planning. It also helps to have someone as imposing as Aslam in your ranks. He impressed yet again picking up a Super 10 himself. Mohit Goyat, a very composed raider (I say this because it's hard to keep a cool head when you're in the middle of one of the hardest jobs in kabaddi) but he raked in tackle points more than raid points. Aslam had some good support from Nitin Tomar. Baldev had a quiet night and Vishal Bharadwaj's desperation to get a piece of the action often went in vain but Abinesh Nadarajan did well to pick up a hi-five, his dashes literally thrusting the opponent out if this game.

This win sees Puneri Paltan go up to ninth place from 11th and is just below Bengal Warriors which is placed eighth. Given the performance we've seen today, the league should be wary of Pune.

Action is not over for the night. It's Pawan Sehrawat vs Pardeep Narwal as Bengaluru Bulls take on UP Yoddha. Follow the action from that game here:


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27-39
Akash Pikalmunde is allowed a touch point and that's curtains on this game. CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS SCORELINE! 12 POINT WIN AGAINST THE DEFENDING CHAMPION . WOW.

26-39
Baldev was instructed to go for Akash and he does but Abinesh Nadarajan also gets involved and ends up being wrestled off.

24-39 Akash Pikalmunde wrestles Sanket Sawant to the midline to get a point for Bengal

23-39 ASLAM SUMMERSAULTING INAMDAR!
WHAT A PERFORMER. He jumps over Rinku's back and double somersaults his way to the midline

23-38
Vishal Bharadwaj wants to dash now. Maninder was taken by surprise here as he's pushed out.

15 points separate these two teams. Aslam Inamdar has done well to rally the men in orange to put up such a statement performance against the defending champion!

23-37
Maninder takes out Abinesh Nadarajan who again comes in with a hasty dash. No loss though because Abinesh has been consistent for Pune and it comes down to taking these changes.
 
22-37
Bengal looks down and out. Aslam seems to have got a bonus point plus the two touch points he got and he gets the two points. Aslam wants the bonus but Tomar calms him down.

22-35 SUPER TACKLE.
Nabibakhsh shows Nitin Tomar his back and Tomar who was anyway looking for a good opportunity to thump him down gets the perfect opportunity. Nabibakhsh is too deep in the left corner and pays for it.

22-33
Maninder Singh takes out Sanket Sawant. He is the on the left in that chain and loses his footing as Maninder races in with a touch.

12 point lead for Puneri Paltan. WOW. I did not see this coming, to be honest.

21-33 Vishal Bharadwaj hastily grabs Nabibakhsh's ankles and the Iranian slips out and takes Vishal out. Desperate to be part of the action here, is Vishal.

20-33
Aslam gets Abozar and a bonus to make this saltier and saltier for the Warriors.

20-31
Maninder gets a huge touch point on Karamvir. Eight minutes remain in this match.

19-31 YIKES. WHAT IS THIS.
Maninder comes in to raid and Nabibakhsh has run in too. Technical point to Puneri Paltan

19-30
Look at that scoreline. Yet another Bengal raider brought down - Akash Pikalmunde is the man. His hand is struggling to touch that midline but Pune keeps him in check.

19-29 Aslam Inamdar gets Amit Narwal. YET AGAIN. Is there some new raider-bunny combo we were not told about? Amit has been thumped down by Inamdar today.

18-28 Lovely presence of mind from Akash Pikalmunde. He's got a touch on Vishal and when blocked by Baldev, rotates and gets his toe across the line. LOVELY.

11 points separate these two teams. Can the Warriors bridge this gap?

17-28 Aslam Inamdar gets his SUPER 10 with a bonus point in this raid

17-27 Maninder Singh is met near the midline by Abinesh's dash but this time, he ploughs through and takes Sanket Sawant along too. TWO POINTS.

15-27 Amit Narwal's blip-filled night continues as he targeted Abozar Mighani and pulled out Narwal to get a touch

15-26 Maninder dealing in bonuses now as he takes another point for his team.

14-26
Puneri Paltan gets a bonus, thanks to Aslam Inamdar.

14-25
Nabibakhsh gets a bonus point

13-25
Surrender raid. And that's the second ALL OUT. Pune is flying now!

13-22
Maninder goes in needing a point to revive someone from his side. But he gets just the bonus

12-22
Maninder and Abozar remain on the mat. Aslam Inamdar targets Abozar and spends a good 10-15 seconds just tempting him and Abozar falls. Maninder the last man standing for Bengal.

12-21
Bengal Warriors get a bonus point

11-21
Mohit Goyat gets his first raid point of the night.

HALF TIME | Unbelievable scenes here in Bengaluru as Bengal Warriors finds itself seeking mercy from a ferocious Paltan attack. Puneri Paltan has bettered all the things it's been good at this season

11-20
Maninder gets a bonus point.

9-20
Mohit Goyat has two tackle points and no raid points yet and that will remain that way as he walks away empty handed. Just three men remain on the mat for the Warriors. Staring at an all out a few minutes after already folding once before.

9-20
Akash Pikalmunde takes out Aslam Inamdar. Nicely done. Brute strength to carry him to the midline. More crucially though, he brings Maninder back on the mat.

8-20
Aslam Inamdar has taken out Rinku Narwal. Running hand touch here and a massive touch on the jersey.

8-19
This is a carnage here. A pile of orange jerseys descends on Nabibakhsh. Mohit Goyat initiating this tackle. The Iranian joins Mani on the bench. This Warriors team is toothless without its mainstays.

8-18
Was that a dubki? Aslam Inamdar crouches and escapes the Warriors defence taking Amit Narwal and Vijin Thangadurai with him.

8-16
Sigh. Maninder is back on the bench again and it's a dash from Abinesh Nadarajan yet again Lovely work

8-15 Surrender raid. ALL OUT.
Lovely work, Puneri Paltan. Bengal Warriors are seven points behind. Maninder is back on the mat and needs to find a way to stay there.

8-12 A
binesh Nadarajan dashes Nabibakhsh out of the mat, complimenting Vishal Bharadwaj's ankle hold. Bengal Warriors has been given a bonus point though, for what that's worth

7-11
Aslam Inamdar comes on a do or die raid and gets out of the defence's hold, taking Abozar out of the equation.

7-10
Bengal Warriors are down to three again. Akash Pikalmunde comes in, tries to negotiate the corners and ends up in the lobby.

7-9 Seventh raid for Nitin Tomar.
He is back from injury and seems to be taking an insane amount of load today. He needs support. He needs Aslam Inamdar. This one is empty though.

7-9
Mohit heads in to raid and the Bengal defence brings him down with a potential SUPER TACKLE but wait. Referees took a few seconds almost secong guessing the validity of the super tackle but the points go to Bengal anyway. Nabibakhsh is back on the mat.

5-9
Puneri Paltan has come prepared for Bengal Warriors today and despite a new raider coming to play (Manoj Gowda), Pune comes out on top. He runs parallel to the midline and into the defence and Pune welcomes him with open arms. Mohit Goyat coming good with the tackle here.

5-8 Do or die raid for Pune. Nitin Tomar is the raider and he's pushed a defender aside to take a point for his side.

5-7 SUPER TACKLE! Abinesh Nadarajan gets involved as he goes for a dash on Maninder. Oof, Maninder can do nothing here but Bengal seems to think Vishal Bharadwaj went into the lobby and review. Replays show Vishal's foot was on the line but not beyond it. Bengal has lost the one review it has. Is this going to cost this side?

Bengal Warriors 5-7 Puneri Paltan

Apologies for the blank here. We've had a connectivity issue and went offline for a bit. In the five minutes we've been away, Pune has picked up pace against Bengal, Bengal has lost its sole review of the night and there are some worried faces in the Bengal bench.

5-5
SUPER TACKLE. Nicely done by the Puneri Paltan defense to shut out Mohammad Nabibakhsh.

5-3 Nitin Tomar comes back with a bonus. Still so much to do for one person.

5-2 Nabibakhsh has his revenge. He rams into Aslam and dashes to the midline. Revenge for that first tackle.

4-2
Maninder Singh seems to have got three points there. Baldev Singh, Sanket Sawant, Mohit Goyat. Super raid specialist is Maninder Singh

1-1 Abinesh Nadarajan has made life far too easy for Maninder Singh as he struggles to get away fast enough to avoid Mani;'s running hand touch.

0-1 A few empty raids to start day's play and Pune draws first blood as Aslam Inamdar gets a hold on Mohammad Nabibakhsh's ankle with Abinesh Nadarajan coming in with an assist. Big fish out right at the start.
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Live action begins any time now.

Bengal Warriors: Maninder Singh, Amit Narwal, Vijin Thangadurai, Manoj Gowda, Mohammad Nabibakhsh, Abozar Mighani, Rinky Narwal

Puneri Paltan: Aslam Inamdar, Abinesh Nadarajan, Sanket Sawant, Nitin Tomar, Mohit Goyat, Baldev, Vishal Bharadwaj

7.20pm: Nitin Tomar is available for Puneri Paltan today. That's good news for the men in orange.

7.10pm: Defending champions Bengal Warriors are placed eighth in the table. Not ideal. While Puneri Paltan along with Telugu Titans have been stuck at the bottom of the table for a while now.

7pm: Bengal Warriors
got off to a dream start in PKL 8 when they won both their initial fixtures. Fortune has been mixed since for Maninder's men. They've just won three games in total in seven fixtures, with four losses and a draw - many of those coming in close games too. With a Puneri Paltan side that still looks a little rusty and all-over-the-place, the Warriors have a chance to get a win in the bag and dust off some of that doubt that sometimes creeps into the side especially in pressure situations. It will be crucial for Bengal to build a lead and defend it well. Abozar and Co. have been getting better with each game and Nabibakhsh has been a talisman in all departments. These pieces need to come together properly going forward. The Mani-Nabibakhsh combo often ends up with too much to do so if the Warriors can figure out a way to support their two stars, their scoreboards could start looking better.

6.45pm :Puneri Paltan comes in to this game with a very shaky campaign so far. In 7 games, Anup Kumar's boys only have two wins, with the five losses hurting the initial momentum for the team this season. They have had huge positives too in the form of Mohit Goyat and Aslam Inamdar. However, an under-performing raiding arsenal (Rahul Chaudhari, Nitin Tomar plagued by injuries) is hurting their chances. Their defence too has not been to the level of the other teams. With Baldev becoming a part of the starting seven, Vishal Bharadwaj has found a partner who can calm him down and resist the hasty advanced tackles but that's far too little an incentive.  Pune will need to summon a lot of courage to tackle the likes of Maninder Singh and Mohammad Nabibakhsh who can, on their day, take games away from opponents almost singlehandedly.

- If you're struggling to keep up with the rules or the scoring system, no fear, we have help.

 

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