Star of the Day: Ajay Thakur

Name: Ajay Thakur

Team: Tamil Thalaivas

Position: Raider

Two closely-fought encounters came to pass at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex in Delhi on Tuesday with Patna Pirates and Tamil Thalaivas holding their nerve to defeat Dabang Delhi K.C. and Gujarat Fortunegiants respectively. But one man who completely stole the show on the night was none other than Thalaivas captain Ajay Thakur.

Thakur finished with a match-high 14 points (13 raids and 1 tackle). He scored consecutively in each of his last five raids to put the solid Gujarat defence under pressure, forcing them to commit silly errors at the death. With 5 seconds remaining on the clock and a single point separating the two teams, Thakur went in to raid. He needed just one point to tie the match but came back with two to snatch the match away from the Fortunegiants at 35-34.

This is the second time in back-to-back matches for the Thalaivas that Thakur has pulled off two-point raids in the dying moments. Only two days ago, he had pulled off a similar two-point raid in the last action of the match to stun Bengal Warriors. This proves that until the final whistle blows, Thakur is not someone who could be silenced.