"Where is the best raider? Where is the best defender? It does not matter, Dabang Delhi are champions."
Fazel Atrachali, scorer of 597 tackle points in the Pro Kabaddi League, earned a single tackle point in the PKL 12 final between Dabang Delhi and Puneri Paltan. Ashu Malik earned a single bonus point, and then a raid point towards the end. Ayan Lohchab, with a league-high 316 raid points, and Navdeep with a league-topping 73 tackle points, (both for Patna Pirates) watched on the sidelines as Fazel lifted the PKL trophy for the third time in his career, and Ashu Malik for the second.
For a league ever so keen on propping up the next generation as poster-boys every season and moving on from the old guard, Dabang Delhi's three-point win in the final owed a lot to those three points from their experienced campaigners.
Gold is always a good investment, iykyk ��#PKL12 #ProKabaddi #GhusKarMaarenge #DabangDelhiKC #PuneriPaltan pic.twitter.com/F3gcNEOtTX
- ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) October 31, 2025
Those three points were the difference between the two teams contesting the final, who had tied all three games this season (Dabang Delhi winning two on tie-breakers, and Puneri Paltan one). Make no mistake however, Joginder Narwal's side also owed their final victory to their backup raiding unit that has fired when Ashu Malik has missed this season. Delhi's best raider this season was clearly carrying an injury into the final, and Ashu went the entirety of the first half without scoring a single point.
For many other teams in the league, a misfiring lead raider would spell defeat (in Devank Dalal and the Bengal Warriorz' case, even a firing lead raider didn't stave off losses). Not so for Delhi - where Ashu Malik was not at 100%, Neeraj Narwal and Ajinkya Pawar turned up with 200% displays - inflicting all-outs and coming up with super raids at crucial stages of the final
Paltan's famed defence wilted when it counted, perhaps undone by the pressure newly-minted coach Ajay Thakur had placed on them after their loss in Qualifier 1 - "If you lose, I will resign."
The team unit that had carried them to three finals in four years lacked stardust, a difference maker like Mohammad Reza Shadloui, who was responsible for the Paltan's sole PKL trophy, and sole final win in three attempts. For a sport like kabaddi, it's not about the constant racking up of points, it's the difference-makers who step up in the crucial moments that count. And more often than not, that comes from experienced old heads, who know how to stay in the game, and make a decisive contribution when needed.
Fazel had been quiet the whole night - a bit tentative for a man who was just four points away from 600 tackle points in his PKL career coming into the final, an absurd number by any metric. This was his sixth final, he had lost three of them and won two, so who better to know how to bide his time. "Runner-up has no meaning for me... I have enough silver medals", he told the broadcasters before the final.
He'd attempted one tackle in 29 minutes and 30 seconds of the final, an unsuccessful grab on Aditya Shinde in the second half. Delhi had watched an eight-point lead disappear in the last five minutes, with Joginder Narwal calling for a timeout with 73 seconds to go and the lead down to three.
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- ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) October 31, 2025
The former Dabang Delhi captain, now coach, knew who would make the difference. "FAZEL!" he pleaded with the PKL legend in the timeout, having run out of words to say. Even before the final, he had revealed to the broadcasters that "All the load is on my senior players now, not like season 8 when I was on ground."
As the final ticked over into the final minute, Puneri Paltan brought the gap down to a single point - 29-28 on the scoreboard. Aditya Shinde, fresh off a superb two-point raid where he leapt over Sandeep and Surdeep, came roaring in, seeking to draw Paltan level and send the fourth game between the two best PKL teams into a tie-breaker. Puneri Paltan had the momentum with their raiding lion, Dabang Delhi had their Sultan.
The Sultan won.
Fazel Atrachali had waited, bided his time, and when Shinde came in a little too eagerly, he pounced, and never let go. Paltan had lost their best raider, and now trailed by two points with 23 seconds to go on the clock. All Delhi had to do was run the clock down, and Ashu Malik did, a beaten Paltan looking on. Dabang Delhi were champions.
Even apart from the final, it was their old heads that had carried them through - Surjeet, ten seasons into a PKL career and only making the final for the first time, and making crucial tackles during the final as he lifted the trophy for the first time. Delhi had been the team to beat all year, right from a superb start to the season, to a couple of blips when Ashu Malik went off the boil. They did not finish the season as table-toppers, (just as they did in season 8), but come the final in Delhi, in front of their home crowd, their old guard made all the difference.
The Pro Kabaddi League might be advertising their young guns this season and the next, but in Dabang Delhi, the old guns showed they still have plenty of ammunition. PKL 12 belongs to them.