Puneri Paltan rose to the top of the Pro Kabaddi League leaderboard with a 40-31 win over UP Yoddhas, at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune on Friday.
Earlier in the day, Patna Pirates came up with a 34-31 win over U Mumba, and Jaipur Pink Panthers ended their three-match losing streak with a 45-40 win over Dabang Delhi, who have now lost six in a row.
Tamil Thalaivas, meanwhile, confirmed that their star raider Pawan Sehrawat had undergone knee surgery but will miss out the rest of the season.
Sehrawat became the most expensive PKL player when the Thalaivas purchased him for Rs 2.24 crore at the auction in August. The raider however suffered a knee injury in his team’s opening match of the season, and has not played since.
“Tamil Thalaivas can confirm that Pawan Sehrawat will miss the remainder of the Pro Kabaddi Season 9,” read a statement provided by the league.
“The star raider suffered a knee injury during the team’s first match of the season against Gujarat Giants and has since undergone successful surgery.
“Pawan is currently recovering well and will continue his rehabilitation with the club.”
In the last match on Friday night, Fazel Atrachali led the young Paltan team with a strong individual performance. His seven tackle points helped him overtake Manjeet Chhillar to become the most successful defender in PKL history. Atrachali’s tally now stands at 397 tackle points, ahead of Chhillar’s 391.
His work on the night neutralised Pardeep Narwal’s seven raid points for the Yoddhas. Atrachali’s work in defence, helped young raider Akash Shinde play freely, as he picked up 15 raid points to top score in the match and help his side win their sixth game this season.
In the opening match of the night, Sachin came up with a commanding 12 points to set the tone and help Patna Pirates beat U Mumba.
Later, in a high-scoring match, the Dabang Delhi slumped to their sixth consecutive loss after starting the season with five wins on the trot.
Naveen Kumar, once again, came up with a Super 10, as did his teammate Ashu Malik.
But Arjun Deshwal top scored in the match with 16 points, and Sunil Kumar’s three tackle points and Ankush’s four points in defence helped make the difference for the Pink Panthers.