India emerged victorious against Bangladesh (57-20) in a league clash of the Kabaddi World Cup in Ahmedabad on Tuesday in what was a must-win game after the hosts made life difficult for themselves with a shock loss to Korea in the opener.
Ajay Thakur was the super-sub, scoring 10 points after coming on while Pardeep Narwal was the star of the first half with eight points as India gave no chance to their opponents.
India’s defence held firm and now the campaign is back on track for the seven-time champions.
It was a flying start as India led 4-2 in the sixth minute when skipper Anup Kumar scored a bonus and a tackle point.
And while Bangladesh hit back via Firdaus Sheikh’s good form to make it 4-4, India quickly opened up an 8-4 lead after nine minutes.
A fourth raid point from Narwal and followed and the tone for the match was set with India leading 13-4. The Bangladeshis took up till the 12th minute to score their first raid point. By the 18th minute, India led 24-9.
The lead kept increasing and with less than five minutes remaining, India led 48-18 before closing the game out comfortably.
India will play Argentina in their next match on Saturday.