PKL 2021: Substitute Ajinkya Pawar shines as Tamil Thalaivas taste first win of season

Bengaluru, Dec 31: Tamil Thalaivas tasted their first win of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 2021 season as they defeated Puneri Paltan by a margin of 36-26 here at The Sheraton Grand in Bengaluru on Friday (December 31). Ajinkya Pawar, coming in as a substitute, was the star of the night as he sizzled with 11 points in 11 raids.

Ajinkya Pawar was a treat to fans - he had every trick in the book to negate all attempts from the Puneri Paltan defence. He was a live-wire as he plotted his game beautifully. He chalked out his escape routes well, had enough firepower in him to escape the defenders' clutches and slowly became Tamil Thalaivas' do-or-die raid specialist.

Tamil Thalaivas came out all guns blazing and eased themselves to a 2-0 lead with Sahil Singh tackled by showman Rahul Chaudhari with a scintillating double ankle hold. The Tamil Nadu team increased their lead gradually with Manjeet picking up bonus points in his raids and Surjeet Singh executing formidable blocks.

Manjeet was in red-hot form and was unstoppable in the initial raids. He went for a raid, took three Puneri Paltan defenders in his wake, and put Tamil Thalaivas in a position of strength at 9-2.

Going by how the Tamil Thalaivas were dominating the game, an all-out was on the cards and the Paltan suffered their first all-out early into the game, conceding a 9-point lead at 3-12.

A change of tactics from Puneri Paltan, relying on their defensive strength did wonders for them as they gradually grew into the game.

Pune defenders Abinesh Nadarajan and Vishal Bharadwaj upped their game as the Tamil Thalaivas seemed to lose the plot, unable to free themselves from the defenders' clutches.

A drop in intensity from Tamil Thalaivas' Manjeet was what Pune were looking for and the raider had no answers to a strong Puneri defence.

Puneri Paltan reduced the arrears in a quick fashion and were only trailing by 7 points at 11-18 when the referee blew the whistle for halftime.

Puneri Paltan came stronger after the break while it was an all-familiar story for Tamil Thalaivas as they squandered a healthy lead. Puneri Paltan called the shots after an initial lull as Pankaj Mohite produced a sudden burst of speed and reduced Pune's deficit to just one point.

Ajinkya Pawar survived a do-or-die raid for Tamil Thalaivas as he thwarted an ankle hold attempt from Sombir to help his team keep a slender lead. He was soon in action again as dodged Vishal's block and Rahul Chaudhari's ankle hold to extend Thalaivas' lead to six points.

Pawar lifted his game to a different level delivering for his team with agile raids. He brought up his first Super 10 of his Pro Kabaddi League career as he put the match to bed helping Tamil Thalaivas surge to an unassailable 10-point lead with just minutes left on the clock.