Sehrawat welcomes new rules for PKL
CHENNAI: A week into the new-look Pro Kabaddi League, Pawan Sehrawat, one of the renowned names in the sport, gave his seal of approval over the new rules introduced. He finds the tiebreaker rule 'interesting' and felt that it would improve the quality of matches.
The 12th iteration of Pro Kabaddi League, which began on August 29, comes with a set of new rules. Firstly, tiebreakers are now played in the league stages, which is usually seen in the knockout rounds of previous editions. Secondly, a new play-in stage is introduced — where teams finishing 5th to 8th will play each other for a spot in the play-offs to be played against the top four teams. "The tiebreaker rule makes the game more interesting. For a player on the mat, it gives them a chance to upgrade their skill and play on the opposition's baulk line. Teams with five or more raiders in the starting seven have performed well so far. Even in teams which do not have that many raiders, they manage to go to the tiebreaker and win. We have seen it (on August 30) with the Bengaluru Bulls, when they did not have fifth raider and Akash Shinde was tackled against Puneri Paltan but they took the game to the tiebreaker," he told in a media interaction organised by JioHotstar, the broadcaster of this league.
Sehrawat reckoned that the tiebreaker rule will also help teams understand strategies employed by other teams in the league. In previous editions, winning team are awarded five points, three for each team after a tied fixture and one point for a team losing by seven points or fewer. Now, winning teams are awarded two points and the losing side with zero points. This means that teams will go into the mat with a lot at stake. “Earlier, teams used to play for the draw. But now with these rules, one will play in a do-or-die situation, where players will have to put effort to win. Players will think to win until the last minute,” added the 29-year-old.
Tiebreakers in four PKL matches this season has seen some intriguing action, with teams winning it with a difference of a point. As on Friday, over 70 percent of matches ended with a score difference of five points or less. In one fixture, U Mumba, who seemed down and out against Gujarat, managed to bounce back and forced a tie break. U Mumba raider Ajit Chouhan stole two important raid points there, setting the platform for the defenders to win the game for the 2015 champions. “This (tiebreaker) rule also brings interest amongst fans, asking themselves. Rules like these are there to make the game more clear to the people,” he added.
Sehrawat’s first stint with Tamil Thalaivas in Season 9 in 2022 was plagued by injuries as he made only one appearance then. After a forgettable campaign last year, the Thalaivas will be keen on making amends, as they face the Gujarat Giants on Saturday. “So far, we have done well. We could have the second match against U Mumba but errors cost us. With this six-day long break we were able to work on a few things, but the game plan will remain the same." Sehrawat dismissed the label of ‘main raider’ in the team, stating that roles are distributed equally amongst every player in the team. “But as captain, I have to see which player fares well in which defence. That way, I feel Arjun (Deshwal) can score well in 2-3 man and 4-5 man defences,” he said.