DDKC started season 8 of the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League in an empathetic fashion as they did not concede a single defeat in their first eight games. They were, in fact, on a seven-match winning streak. But things turned south when first their captain Joginder Narwal got injured, and then their star raider Naveen Kumar also got sidelined.
The injury of these two players have come as a major loss for Dabang Delhi as they haven’t been able to rack up the same kind of performance they did with them in the team.
Kumar has been a major loss for the side as he had scored 135 raid points from nine games, the most by any player till he got injured. Narwal’s absence has also cost Delhi dearly, as they aren’t only missing his tactical acumen as the captain but also his skills as the defender.
Delhi has only beaten Patna Pirates (32-29, Jan 18) in the absence of Narwal and Kumar, and have lost to Haryana Steelers (33-36, Jan 21) and Puneri Paltan (25-42, Jan 24) in their most recent games.
Manjeet Chillar has been given the duties to lead Delhi in the absence of Narwal. However, the 34-year-old has not been able to stand up to the challenge till now.
Apart from the game against Patna Pirates, where he looked like he was getting his old mojo back, Manjeet has struggled to find his rhythm in the league so far.
Even in their last game against Puneri Paltan, Delhi attempted 17 unsuccessful tackles, which meant they lost by a thumping margin of more than 10 points.
Dabangg Delhi’s coach Krishan Hooda expressed his disappointment over Manjeet’s performance.
“There is no pressure on Manjeet, I think. He is a senior player but he did not play as per the strategy.”
he told Sportskeeda.
Remarkably, Chillar is the league’s best defender but he has really struggled to contribute thuis season.
In his interview, Hooda also rued the absence of Joginder Narwal and hopes he’d be back soon,
“We are missing Joginder Narwal. He is working hard to recover from his injury. Hopefully, he will be back for the next match.”
