Jaipur Pink Panthers faced a stiff challenge from Telugu Titans before edging them out 46-32 to open their account in the Pro Kabaddi League at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here today.
If the duo of Jasvir Singh and Rajesh Narwal stole the limelight on the mat with nine raid points each, it was the star power of team owner and Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan that sealed their victory.
Sitting at the sidelines, the Junior Bachchan cheered for every point and each successful raid even as Telugu Titans took the battle to the wire with Rahul Chaudhari at the helm of their raid with eight points followed by Deepak Nivas Hudda (four).
The match also saw the 'debut' of Pakistani player Wajid Ali for the Telugu Titans as the defender is one of the three players from across the border to participate in the Pro Kabaddi franchise league.
The Pink Panthers climbed past Telugu Titans with five points from two matches as the Visakhapatnam team remained on three points.
Jasvir was adjudged the Best Raider, while Prasant Chavan won the Best Defender and Rohit Rana the Best Moment of the Day awards.
The Pink Panthers had a slender one-point lead of 17-16 at the end of the first period and they stretched the lead to six points after the play resumed.
Telugu Titans, however, did not give up easily as they closed in on Pink Panther with some successful raid by their No 1 Chaudhari.
Just when the Telugu Titans looked to bounce back they received a big setback in the form of Chaudhari who was successfully caught by the Pink Panthers.
The hope for a comeback slowly went up in smoke as led by a spectacular effort by Jasvir the Jaipur team went on consolidating the lead with an 11-point difference by 37th minute.
