Substitute Ajinkya Pawar was the star of the night for Tamil Thalaivas as he scored 11 raid points in 11 raids to take Tamil Thalaivas to a comfortable victory against Puneri Paltan by 36-26 in the 23rd match of the Pro Kabaddi League season 8. 

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Ajinkya Pawar negated all the tackle attempts on him by the Puneri Paltan defence and treated fans with an entertaining performance. Pawar proved to be energetic and unpredictable enough as he strategised his game perfectly. He planned his escape routes well and had the firepower to deal with the defenders’ tackles. He slowly claimed the role of Tamil Thalaivas’ do-or-die specialist. 

Tamil Thalaivas had a good start and took a 2-0 lead as Sahil Singh successfully tackled Rahul Chaudhari with a sensational double ankle hold.

Thalaivas increased their lead moderately courtesy of Manjeet scoring bonus points with his raids and Surjeet Singh executing formidable tackles. Manjeet was in excellent touch and was invincible in his initial raids. The Chennai raider came back with 3 touchpoints in a raid as he took 3 Puneri Paltan defenders with him and put Tamil Thalaivas in a bigger lead at 9-2. 

As Tamil Thalaivas were performing, an all-out seemed near enough and Puneri Paltan suffered their first all-out quite early in the game and were left 9 points behind at 3-12. 

Puneri Paltans changed their tactic as they relied more on their defensive strengths which did wonders for them as they gently proceeded in the game. 

Pune defenders Abinesh Nadarajan and Vishal Bharadwaj upped their game as Tamil Thalaivas looked as if they have lost the plot, being unable to free themselves from the defenders’ clutches. 

Tamil Thalaivas’ Manjeet’s intensity dropped and this was the chance Pune were looking for and the raider was left answerless against the Puneri defence. Pune Paltan reduced the difference quickly and 

were only 7 points behind at 11-18 when the referee called for halftime. 

Puneri Paltan made a stronger comeback after the break while things went the same for the Tamil Thalaivas as they lost the big lead. Puneri Paltan started dominating the game a slow player like Pankaj Mohite displayed a sudden burst of speed and reduced Tamil Thalaivas’ lead to just 1 point. 

Ajinkya Pawar managed to survive a do-or-die raid for Tamil Thalaivas as he dodged an ankle hold attempt by Sombir and helped keep his team in the lead. Not much later, he dodged Vishal’s block and Rahul Chaudhari’s ankle hold to extend Thalaivas’ lead to six points. 

Pawar took his game to another level as delivered agile raids. He registered his first Super 10 of his Pro Kabaddi League history as smacked the last nail in the match, taking Tamil Thalaivas’ lead to 10 points with just a few minutes left on the clock. 

Top Performers: 

• Best Raider – Ajinkya Pawar (Tamil Thalaivas) 11 Raid Points
• Best Defender – Vishal Bharadwaj (Puneri Paltan) 4 Tackle Points