Balance beats brilliance: Why Puneri Paltan outmanoeuvred Bengal Warriorz in PKL 2025 contest
The reverse fixture between Bengal Warriorz and Puneri Paltan in the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League underlined exactly why the two sides sit where they do on the points table.
Second-placed Paltan, with seven wins in 10 matches, showcased strategic clarity, while the Warriorz’s defeat exposed the flaws that have left them stuck in the bottom half.
When they met at the SDAT Multipurpose Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday, individual brilliance lit up the contest. Devank Dalal piled on an extraordinary 25 raid points for the Warriorz, but it was Aditya Shinde’s 18 that anchored the Paltan’s 49-44 victory.
What separated the sides? Role clarity and workload distribution.
While Devank was at his aggressive best, scoring more than half of his team’s points (25 of 44), he often found himself carrying the load alone. The dependency was stark: the Warriorz’s next-best raider, Himanshu Narwal, managed just seven points.
By contrast, Shinde produced his third Super 10 of the season and had solid backing. Captain Aslam Inamdar added seven raid points, and Pankaj Mohite chipped in with 10, ensuring that Paltan’s attack never ran out of options.
This was no accident. It was by design. “We always divide the raids among our raiders. If there are 30 raids, then each will get 10 each. All three are our raiders, and we will need every one of them during the match,” said Paltan coach Ajay Thakur.
“If I use only one raider majorly, then when he sits out, the second raider won’t be able to score. I use all three raiders equally,” he added.
The results backed him up. Both teams attempted 41 raids, but Thakur’s men converted 26, two more than their opponent. “We managed to get touch points from Aslam and Aditya. Those proved to be key points. If we did not get those points, anything could have happened in the contest,” Thakur explained.
Shinde, the go-to man, seized every chance: 13 touch points and five bonus points. His season tally now stands at 75 in nine matches, placing him 11th among the league’s top raiders.
That achievement is all the more remarkable given he missed the previous season through injury. “I took time away from the game for rehab and came well equipped for the pre-season camp. I think I impressed my coach (Ajay), and he motivated me to get better,” Shinde said.
Devank’s solo effort, though eye-catching, ultimately went to waste because the Warriorz lacked support and balance. Unless they find ways to spread responsibility across their raiders — as the Paltan have — they risk staying mired in the lower half of the table.
Published on Oct 01, 2025