In front of an enthusiastic home crowd in New Delhi, Dabang Delhi defeated Puneri Paltan 31-28 on Friday to win the Pro Kabaddi League Season 12.
They had won the PKL in Season 8 under the captaincy of current head coach Joginder Narwal, hence this was their second title.
This made Dabang Delhi the first home team to win the championship since U Mumba in Season 2. In the meantime, Fazel Atrachali emerged as the most successful foreign player in PKL history.
With eight and six points, respectively, Neeraj Narwal and Ajinkya Pawar led the raiding unit. Aditya Shinde earned a Super 10 and Abinesh Nadarajan scored four tackle points for Puneri Paltan, but their efforts were in vain.
Aslam Inamdar and Ashu Malik opened their respective teams’ accounts in the grand finals, as has been the case for the majority of the season. Then, Neeraj Narwal took charge for Dabang Delhi, giving his team a four-point lead in the opening exchanges with a two-point raid and a tackle.
Gaurav Khatri secured a number of Super Tackles to make it a one-point game, but Puneri Paltan resisted the early pressure. After an exciting first quarter, Ajinkya Pawar made sure that Dabang Delhi maintained a two-point advantage as the pace slowed significantly as both sides turned to the Do-Or-Die tactic.
With over five minutes remaining in the first half, Ajinkya Pawar of Dabang Delhi scored the game’s first ALL OUT, but Abinesh Nadarajan’s third Super Tackle for Puneri Paltan kept it at one point. His team now has a six-point advantage and some breathing room in this game.
Thanks to Neeraj Narwal’s Super Raid, the home team increased their lead to eight points. Aditya Shinde’s two-point raid and Pankaj Mohite’s tackle helped Puneri Paltan narrow the deficit. But Ajinkya Pawar quickly retaliated with a multi-point assault of his own, maintaining Dabang Delhi’s advantage at the half with a score of 20–14.
With Dabang Delhi keen to maintain their lead, the second half started calmly. Puneri Paltan made every effort to force a return to the game by using their defense and Do-Or-Die tactic. Before Dabang Delhi’s Super Tackle helped them hold onto their six-point lead going into the season’s final quarter, Gurdeep made two tackles to help them narrow the gap to four points.
Dabang Delhi took control of the game after Ashu Malik scored his first point of the evening and Anurag’s Super Tackle restored their eight-point lead. Puneri Paltan, however, were not yet ready to raise the white flag. With less than three minutes remaining, the Season 10 champions were back in the game with a score of 28-25 thanks to a tackle from Mohd Amaan and a series of raids from Aditya Shinde.
Neeraj Narwal reopened the three-point lead after the raider reduced the score to one point. As the two teams were separated by just one point going into the last minute, Aditya Shinde finished his Super 10 with a two-point raid. With a crucial tackle on Aditya Shinde, Fazel Atrachali used all of his experience to score the game’s first point and give Dabang Delhi K.C. a second trophy, this time in their home stadium.
