Pro Kabaddi League 2019 Season 7, 3 Worst Teams: In what was arguably the best season of PKL, three teams failed to live upto the massive expectations accorded from them
Even before Pro Kabaddi League 7 began, this season of the exhibition league was heavily touted to be one of the best ones ever. The format was rejigged, the schedule was changed and the auctions were contested with vigour, all ingredients which promised to make this a tantalising edition of the league.
And now as we move towards the culminating stages of the league, the ongoing season has not let us down one bit. Clubbing all the sides under the umbrella of a single league stage paid off, seeing the level of compettion and tightly contested encounters reach a behemoth height. Where the teams were busy partaking in stringent and staunch competition in a bid to emerge unscathed and move onto the summit, unfortunately six sides remained just mere onlookers in the league.
Out of those six sides, three failed to impress at any stage, being nothing more but mere pushovers across the life of the league. As the season comes to a close, we a take a look at those sides, what went wrong for them this season and the reason for their immense remorse and decline in PKL 7.
Gujarat Fortunegiants
There’s a reason why Gujarat Fortunegiants are the first name in our pile. From challenging for the glistening trophy ever since making an advent into the bedlam of the showpiece league, the side failed to even make it into the eliminators this time around, an unprecedented and shambolic downward spiral for the side.
Ever since fighting it out for the title in the bygone edition of the league where they eventually succumbed infront of Bengaluru Bulls, Gujarat were left trying to clutch onto the smallest bit of star this time around. PKL 7 started off as a solid season for the side, one where the outfit ended up winning their opening three matches in a display which was reminiscent of their displays in the previous season.
However after that, the side ended up winning just 4 of their remaining 19 encounters with the outfit completing collapsing and losing its way. There was a clear discord between the players and what they were required to do on the mat with the side’s coach Mandeep Singh clearly left flummoxed at the side’s displays on ample occasions.
It was clearly evident the sides handling of GB More, a player who emerged from a raider to an all-rounder to be shunned out of the side’s playing 7 for reasons still to be understood. The side had only one raider in Sonu Jaglan who crossed the 100 point mark, emphasising how lacklustre they were as an attacking unit, an outfit which failed to string together two meaningful displays as the league ran down its course.
Patna Pirates
When you have Pardeep Narwal in your ranks and still can’t manage to fathom a proper spree of results to challenge for a spot in the top 6, you know there’s something seriously wrong in the framework. And Patna Pirates’ final league position of eight was a testament to their regressive brand of kabaddi, one which saw the side embroiled in a tussle all throughout.
If Patna Pirates had been able to do even half of what Pardeep Narwal did for the side, the outfit would have found itself in the top 6 as we write this. Hs tenacity filled displays saw him cross the symbolic milestone of 1,000 points in the showpiece league this season, seeing him end with a staggering 302 raid points which had imbued in them 234 successful raids and 15 super 10s.
What ultimately let down the side down was their over reslliance on individual displays rather than a complete showing. Where it was Pardeep in attack, they left everything on Neeraj Kumar in defence with apart from his 59 tackle points, the rest of the unit offering little in the way of a fight. The side were disjointed to be dismantled with ease by their opponents, ending with just the eight wins.
Jaipur Pink Panthers
Althouhg they managed to end in seventh place, remaining the only side who pushed U.P. Yoddha for the last remaining qualifying spot, the sides regression is one which left us immensely dejected. They went from challenging for first place after snagging a slew of wins in the opening exchanges of the marquee league to collapsing and being shunned out of the top 6, becoming a side who were never really in the chase for sixth place in the end.
Why the side find themselves featuring in this is due to their refusal to address their raiding facet, one which was never coherent right from the first match. Apart from Deepak Niwas Hooda who got 146 raid points, there was not the slightest bit of semblance in their raiding display with the outfit being ruffled too easily.
It left what was a solid defence which deserved to ply its skill set in the ensuing round bereft of adequate support from the front part of the mat, leaving Jaipur Pink Panthers going on an incredible winless run of 11 encounters. The ruckus never ended for the side who finishes with just 9 wins, 6 points behind Bengaluru Bulls who took the last remaining 6th place with Jaipur having no one to blame for their recklessness but themselves.
