The five biggest takeaways from the Kolkata leg of vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 7

The Kolkata leg delivered six straight days of enthralling vivo Pro Kabaddi action and the fans at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium were witness to some high-scoring thrillers and impressive feats over the past week. During the past six days, some of kabaddi’s biggest names reached important milestones as the players keep breaking new ground and adding to the vivo Pro Kabaddi lore with every passing match. Here are some of those records and the key highlights from the Kolkata leg:

1. 1000 up for Pardeep Narwal

In Match 83 against Tamil Thalaivas, Patna Pirates skipper ‘Record-Breaker’ Pardeep Narwal added another feather to his cap as he became the first man in vivo Pro Kabaddi history to score 1,000 points and raid points, reaching the mark in his 99^th appearance in the league. Narwal brought up the first of those landmarks with his third point of the night, before reaching the second with his 10^th, receiving a raucous applause from all those in attendance at the stadium. He did not stop there, as he capped off his historic night by scoring 16 more to finish with 26 raid points, the second highest individual tally of the season, leading Patna Pirates to a much-needed victory.

2. Home sweet home for Bengal Warriors

While majority of the teams struggled to find form at home, it was the opposite for Bengal Warriors, who enjoyed a fruitful week in front of the Kolkata faithful, going unbeaten in their four home matches. They finished with three wins and a tie, picking up 18 points out of a possible 20 and rose to the second spot in the standings, parked just a point behind league leaders Dabang Delhi K.C., having played two more matches. Bengal Warriors’ terrific home leg has put them in a prime position to qualify for the playoffs, if not directly to the semi-finals.

3. Deepak Niwas Hooda joins the 800-club

While his team could only muster a tie in their two matches during the Kolkata leg, there was some joy for Deepak Niwas Hooda as he became only the third player in vivo Pro Kabaddi history to score 800 raid points, reaching the mark against Haryana Steelers. He finished the match with 14 raid points, ending his run of eight games without a Super 10.

4. Sehrawat becomes first to 200 in Season 7

Reigning MVP ‘Hi-Flyer’ Pawan Kumar Sehrawat was at his sizzling best against Bengal Warriors in the final game in Kolkata, finishing with 19 raid points in just 20 raid attempts, but it wasn’t enough as Bengaluru Bulls ended up on the losing side by just two points. With his performance, however, Sehrawat amassed 200 points for the season, becoming the first player to do so in this campaign. He is currently 32 points clear in the race for the Best Raider Award, but Dabang Delhi K.C.’s Naveen Kumar, who has played two fewer matches, will be hoping to close the gap during his team’s upcoming games in Pune.

5. Pahal passes the 300 Tackle points mark

After Haryana Steelers snapped their run of eight straight wins, Dabang Delhi K.C. responded in terrific fashion, scoring 50 points against Tamil Thalaivas in a score-fest. While Naveen Kumar and Meraj Sheykh stole the headlines, Right Corner Ravinder Pahal quietly became the second man, alongside Manjeet Chhillar, to score 300 tackle points in vivo Pro Kabaddi. And as fate would have it, it was Manjeet himself who Ravinder pinned down to reach the 300 mark in his team’s landslide victory. The seven-season veteran continues to be an integral member of Dabang Delhi K.C.’s roster and is currently their leading tackle point scorer with 38.