Delhi’s Nilesh Shinde pulls off a screamer against Pune

Puneri Paltan may have won the match against Dabang Delhi K.C. on Friday in Nagpur, but probably the best moment of the encounter belonged to the losing team’s Nilesh Shinde.

In the 27th minute, Sandeep Narwal came to raid for the Paltan. He crossed the white line to make the raid legal and thereafter casually roamed alongside the midline as the seconds ticked away. All this while, he did not see Delhi’s leading defender using his presence of mind and nimble toes.

Shinde ensured that he was outside Narwal’s line of vision and quietly prowled towards him from behind from his right corner position, with the raider being completely unaware about this impending ambush. With a burst of speed and power, Shinde ran and dashed the shocked raider off the mat to pick up a valuable point for his side and gift the spectators one of the best moments of the league so far.

Shinde did take a massive risk but it paid off very well. He, however, was extremely modest and did not see much into it. “The player was not paying attention and when I understood that, I went after him. I had to tackle him so I ran and pushed him off the mat. If a raider makes a mistake, the defender gets such a chance and vice versa,” he modestly said after the match.