Tamil Thalaivas and Puneri Paltan played out a very highly entertaining 31-31 draw in a see-sawing second match of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 7 at the Chennai Jawahar Lal Nehru Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
Ajeet and Manjeet were some of the stars for the Thalaivas and Paltan respectively in a match that had been billed as a clash of the Kabaddi Stalwarts.
Ajay Thakur, Mohit, and Rahul are all the Kabaddi royalty for a reason, and it was hardly a surprise when the Tamil Thalaivas which made a dominant start to the match on their home mat.
The early strategy from the coach and home team E Bhaskaran was clearly to use the Rahul Chaudhari in the raids and preserve Ajay Thakur for the latter stages. But the plan backfired as the Plantan Defence held firm and troubled the Tamil raiders.
Pankaj Mohite was once again the best raider on the mat for the Pune as the team inflicted the first all out on the Thalaivas with the nine minutes remaining till the half time period. The Chennai based team started confidently after the reset through with the Rahul Chaudhari and the local boy Ajeet dominating the raids. The first half ended 15-13 in favor of the Puneri Paltan.
Pankaj Mohite, playing his first Pro Kabaddi season, defied his experience, to push his side ahead with little over three minutes remaining and reducing the Thailavas on the mat to one. But Ajeet, who was the last man standing, had other plans, securing four points in a Super Raid, with slightly over two minutes remaining in the encounter, to tilt the balance once again in Thalaivas’ favor.
But both Rahul Chaudhari for Thalaivas and Manjeet for Paltan failed in their attempts at Do-or-Die raids in the final minute which saw the sides settling for a draw.
