U Mumba, Gujarat Fortune Giants, and Dabang Delhi K.C have made the cut from Zone ‘A’ while from Zone ‘B’, the Bengaluru Bulls, Bengal Warriors, and UP Yoddha occupy the final three slots in the playoffs.
In the discussions ahead of the playoffs, one team has certainly grabbed a majority of the spotlight owing to their unprecedented run this season, that has seen them book a spot in the playoffs for the first time ever in the history of the league.
Dabang Delhi K.C, under the stewardship of ‘Takedown Tiger’ Joginder Narwal has made their way to the knockout stages, breaking their jinx of horrendous runs in the past five seasons of the league.
While kabaddi fans around the globe have chalked out various rationales behind Delhi’s stunning success, skipper Joginder Narwal is not one for a lot of talks as he calmly explains that he knew that this team would certainly go all the way this season.
In a season of mixed fortunes in the league stages, Delhi’s qualification was indeed bent upon results that needed to be in their favor from other matches but when the Jaipur Pink Panthers played out a 35-35 stalemate against U Mumba in Match No.114, the writing was on the wall.
In a fast-paced game such as Kabaddi, ‘momentum’ is an imperative word that goes hand in hand with a team’s fortunes all throughout the season. Narwal’s thoughts echo with this statement as he lays emphasis on his team’s five wins out of six home games, the best performance in this season.
Surrounded by the vociferous crowd at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex in Delhi, ‘The Eagles’ were undoubtedly under the pump to perform and show the door to the ghosts of their past, which is what exactly transpired across the six games.
Apart from the fact that the team was laden with experience ahead of the season, the mega auctions ahead of the sixth season was a matter of discussion as Delhi retained only Meraj Sheykh and a few young players from their previous season.
For a team that has failed to stitch together moments of individual brilliance in the past that led to their dismal show in the previous five seasons, the beginning to the season was the most essential for The Eagles. Narwal takes no time in crediting the coach for the success thus far.
Apart from his own experience in the squad, the likes of Ravinder Pahal and Vishal Mane have also contributed in vital proportions, which Narwal believes is a major driving factor in the team’s debut qualification in the playoffs.
Yet, apart from the acres of experience in the team, the youngsters have also had a major say in the outcome of the matches and in particular, Naveen Kumar’s addition to the team has proved to be one of their best additions this season.
In just his debut season, Naveen has slotted into the role of Delhi’s primary raider and has accumulated 151 raid points from 20 matches thus far, which has reaped a shower of praise from his skipper.
Hailing from Rindhana in Haryana, one of India’s kabaddi hotbeds, it comes as no surprise that Joginder Narwal is on top of his trade and takes from his elder brother, who is a 1994 Asian Games Gold medallist.
With a penchant for raiding as well, Narwal opts to put his raiding skills to the shadows and in turn chooses to focus on what he does best, defending in the left corner while leading his confident battalion in this edition.
While Delhi enjoys their qualification into the knockout stages, a first for the team in six seasons, Narwal does indeed sport a slight smile as he scratches his head when quizzed about any possible errors in the season thus far.
In the end, Narwal claims that ‘The Eagles’ are raring to go as a new challenge lies ahead of them, a new obstacle that the team has never come across in the past five seasons. A spot in the knockouts that could well change the outlook of kabaddi in the eyes of a Dabang Delhi K.C fan.
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