Patna joins kabaddi revolution

Patna: Patna Pirates displayed ample character in an impressive 35-27 win over a belligerent Puneri Paltan in the first ever Pro-Kabaddi League match in the state capital. With their skipper Rakesh Kumar leading by example, the Pirates got off to the best possible start.
Filled to the brim, the delirious crowd cheered every Pirates point as the hosts seized the initiative early on. Ravi Dalal scored the first raid for the home side in the very first minute.However, Praveen Nirwale soon equalled the scoreline for Puneri Paltans as he scored a successful raid. Pirates’ Sandeep Narwal got out. But it was host captain Rakesh Kumar who got the team back on track after squandering a 4-1 advantage. The experienced raider showed his prowess against a Puneri Paltan side that looked sharp on the attack but vulnerable in their own half.
Kumar timed his raids immaculately as he often left the Paltans clinging on to thin air but unfortunately, Kumar’s teammates hardly showed the will, resolve and guile, barring raider Ravi Dalal and Narwal, to go for the kill. With the score tied at 13, Pirates slipped further as Paltans edged ahead of Kumar & Co only for the Pirates skipper to claw their way back into the game. The 32-year-old India captain displayed vintage form as he perfectly strategized his raids get the remaining three players of the Paltans to score the first ‘lona’ of the evening. With chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and sports minister Vinay Bihari in attendance, the Pirates skipper hardly put a foot wrong as he grabbed the initiative for his side with both hands to lead his team 22-16 in the first half.
Jiten Joshi, captaining the Paltans in place of the injured Wazir Singh, drew first blood for the tourists after the break as he made a successful raid. With their defence proving to be an Achilles heel yet again, Dalal provided his side with another valuable point but the Paltans seemed to be in no mood to throw in the towel though after Joshi scored another successful raid for the tourists.
Kumar’s threat was negated with a compact defence as the raider endured numerous unsuccessful raids before Dalal brought the crowd back to life with a stupendous raid. Joshi, though, bargained too much and instead found himself warming the bench, albeit briefly, after an unsuccessful raid.
With time running out for the Paltans, Praveen Nirwale bagged an important raid for to stretch his side to 23 to the Pirates’ 30. If Kumar had set the tone for the evening it was Narwal who put the home team in a commanding position after scoring the second ‘lona’ of the evening from an incredible situation. With half the side looking distraught on the sidelines, Narwal scored what seemed an impossible raid, getting all of their rivals out in the evening’s most remarkable moment.
With the score reading 33-26, the hosts played out the remaining five minutes with relative ease.