THALAIVAS, U MUMBA SPLIT POINTS
U Mumba raider Ajith Kumar steals the show with 15 points in thrilling contest
Tamil Thalaivas played out its second tie of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 as it shared the spoils with U Mumba in a nail-biting match that ended 30-30 in Bengaluru on Monday.
It is to be recalled that Thalaivas split the points with Telugu Titans in its tournament opener last week. V Ajith Kumar, who represented the Tamil Nadu team in PKL 7, came back to haunt his ex-franchise by picking up an invaluable 15 points for U Mumba on Monday. However, the youngster could not steer his side to victory with his raiding heroics since he was pinned down by the Thalaivas defence in the last move of the match.
Thalaivas began the contest in dominant fashion, with its defensive department, led by PO Surjeet Singh, keeping lead U Mumba raiders – Abhishek Singh and Ajith – quiet in the early stages. Lanky raiders Manjeet (8 points) and Bhavani Rajput then impressed for Thalaivas, which inflicted the first ‘All Out’ in the 7th minute to open up an 8-point cushion.
Thalaivas had six successful tackles as opposed to none by U Mumba in the first 15 minutes, but lost its course in the end of the opening period. Ajith produced a stunning six-point raid (4 for escaping as many defenders and 2 for ‘All Out’) to bring U Mumba back into the encounter. Despite Ajith’s effort, Thalaivas held a three-point advantage (17-14) at the half-time interval.
The Tamil Nadu team came up with an aggressive approach in the second essay, with raider MS Athul (7 points) chipping in with points at regular intervals. For U Mumba, Ajith continued his marauding form to clinch a ‘Super 10’, which enabled his side to effect an ‘All Out’ with six minutes remaining on the clock.
Thalaivas later made a crucial comeback and calculated its last raids effectively to ensure U Mumba had a ‘Do-or-Die’ attempt in the final move of the match. Ajith hunted for a point, but the Thalaivas defensive unit rounded him to force a tie.
Ajith credits team for brilliant show
“It was my first match against Thalaivas, so I felt a little tense. The management, head coach, support staff and teammates put their complete faith in me. Head coach (Rajaguru Subramanian) motivated me ahead of the match and asked me to play my natural game with confidence. I tried my best to play without pressure and I was able to pick up [15] points,” said Ajith.