PKL 2025: Paltan thrashing a reminder for Shadloui to reinvent
As the clock ran out on the Gujarat Giants in its 19-41 thrashing at the hands of Puneri Paltan at the Vishwanadh Sports Club here, Paltan skipper Aslam Inamdar – with a wide smile – asked his counterpart Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh, “Why angry, bro?”
The Iranian – the most expensive player in the pre-season auction at ₹2.23 crore – had a rare off night, ending with zero points to his name and barely impacting proceedings. This had more to do with his former team Puneri Paltan’s tactical preparation than anything the allrounder did or did not do.
“If you watch the match, they never came for me, in any single point. In the end, I didn’t have any choice but to go for tackles myself because they didn’t come inside towards me,” he explained.
The fixture was in stark contrast to the Giants’ opening outing against U Mumba, where Shadloui – ever the showman – was front and centre of the action. Against Paltan, what will perhaps sting more is that he was neutralised by virtue of being ignored.
Paltan head coach Ajay Thakur underlined how familiarity had come back to haunt the 25-year-old.
“All my players have played with him and knew exactly where he would and wouldn’t go. I think this was a minus point for him. Because Aslam [Inamdar] knew his weaknesses, as did Aditya [Shinde], Pankaj [Mohite], and others, because he was a part of his team. We have practiced together for so long that we knew everything about him,” he said.
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Thakur admitted that watching a diffused Shadloui put his mind at ease in the dugout.
“He is a very good player, there is no doubt about it. He is the best defender in the league. I could breathe a sigh of relief when I saw that Shadloui was not playing well. It was the best thing for my team,” he stated.
The Paltan is the antithesis of the brand of kabaddi Shadloui embodies. In a game where Pune scored 41 points, there were evenly distributed performances from the entire squad. Individual brilliance and the glory of a one-man show have always taken a backseat in the Paltan dugout, and it continued in their decisive victory against the Giants.
“When you’re the leader, the franchise only wants victory from you. It doesn’t matter if you bring 200 or 400 points. I’ve tried to work with that philosophy with the boys. Points don’t matter; they should all go towards a win,” Aslam quipped.
Shadloui, while speaking to reporters after the game, emphasized that the team lost focus in the first five minutes. Snubbing his tendency to want to put on a show might be the norm in the games to come, and the Iranian and his boys will need to find a way around it soon to stay competitive in the season.
Published on Sep 02, 2025