PKL 25: First day, first tie breaker and a penultimate super raid
The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 2025 kicked off with a night of high drama in Vizag on Friday, highlighted by Puneri Paltan defeating Bengaluru Bulls in the first-ever league stage tie-breaker in the tournament's history. The season opener also saw a blockbuster clash where a last-gasp Super Raid from Pawan Sehrawat secured a thrilling victory for Tamil Thalaivas over the host team, Telugu Titans.
In a nail-biting contest, Puneri Paltan and Bengaluru Bulls were inseparable after 40 minutes of action, with the scores locked at 32-32. This triggered the new tie-breaker rule for the first time in a league match. In the tense five-raid shootout, Aslam Inamdar proved to be the difference-maker, scoring a crucial raid point before a final tackle from Dheeraj sealed a historic 6-4 tie-breaker win for the Paltan.
The match was a showcase of raiding talent. For Puneri Paltan, Aditya Shinde was a standout with nine points, including an early Super Raid. For the Bengaluru Bulls, Akash Shinde was in spectacular form, scoring his first Super 10 of the season and also crossing the 300-raid-point milestone in his PKL career, though his efforts ultimately went in vain.
Earlier in the evening, the season began with a bang as Tamil Thalaivas edged out Telugu Titans 38-35 in a back-and-forth thriller. The host Titans looked to be in a commanding position after inflicting the first All Out of the season to take a five-point lead in the second half. However, the Thalaivas, led by their star raiders, mounted a spirited comeback to level the scores at 28-28.
The Thalaivas' victory was sealed by their star duo. Arjun Deshwal was in top form, picking up from where he left off last season to register a Super 10. But the decisive moment came in the final seconds of the match from "Hi-Flyer" Pawan Sehrawat. With the game on the line, Sehrawat produced a clutch Super Raid, snatching a dramatic victory for the Thalaivas and bringing the electrifying opening night to a close.
