Dabang Delhi entered PKL 11 having made the playoffs in each of the last five seasons, but it looked like that run would end this time. After starting the campaign with a 36-28 win over U Mumba, Dabang Delhi lost five of their next six games to drop down to 10^th in the standings and seemed headed toward a disappointing campaign. Then, things changed.

Delhi have followed up that torrid stretch by going on a 13-match unbeaten streak to qualify for the playoffs. No one would have seen this run coming when they dropped to 2-5 after their first seven games, so what changed? Well, let’s take a look, shall we?

Defending

There has been improvement across the board on the defensive end from Delhi. The overall tackle success rate went up by nearly 10 percentage points while the do-or-die tackle success rate did go up by double digits.

That do-or-die tackle success rate would be good enough for third-best in the PKL over the course of this season, which tells you how well they have done. Another area where they have excelled is when they have just 1-3 defenders on the mat, as that 40% success rate would be the best this season.

While the team as a whole deserves credit for the improvement, the individual most responsible for it is Yogesh Dahiya. After winning NYP of the season in PKL 10, Yogesh had a slow start to this campaign but has upped his game since. In the last 13 games, he has recorded 53 tackle points at a staggering 64.3% success rate with four High 5s. He has an 84.2% do-or-die tackle success rate too and has been simply spectacular.

Raiding

While Dabang Delhi have improved leaps and bounds on defense, that’s not been the case on the raiding front. They have, in fact, been slightly worse off overall, but it’s not been a significant drop. Where there has been a significant change is the do-or-die success rate and it’s in the positive direction. Over the course of this season, that 53.4% success rate would rank third, and that’s certainly helped a little bit.

Ashu Malik has been carrying Delhi on his back and has been quite consistent. He averaged 10.7 raid points per game in those first seven games and managed to up it to 11.7 in the last 13. With Naveen Kumar not quite being at his best this season after returning from injury, Delhi will be looking to Malik to carry them across the finish line. Will he be able to do it and get them a second title in four seasons? Well, time will tell.

Featured Image Credit: PKL