An impenetrable fortress of Dabang Delhi will be attacked by the invaders from the UP Yoddha camp to seize this supremacy battle between Northerners of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 8.
Bengaluru’s Sheraton Grand Whitefield Hotel will be hosting this Match 117 where Delhi’s veteran corner-defender captain Joginder Narwal will be summoned by the youngster corner-defender skipper Nitesh Kumar.
Two of the biggest raiding names of this league- Naveen Kumar and Pardeep Narwal will be turning up for this electrifying contest between two neighborhood rivals. Jeeva Kumar who currently dons the blue kits of the Capital-based franchise was part of UP’s defense line in their first two seasons at the Pro Kabaddi League.
The Kabaddi mat was on fire when the PKL universe witnessed these two neighboring franchises battling out each other earlier this season. It was Match 40 on 8th February 2022 when Delhi registered a four-point victory over UP in their first encounter of the season. Delhi held the counterparts on a scoreline of 37-33, credits to the contributions of Naveen (18 points) and Manjeet Chhillar (4 tackle points) while Pardeep’s diligent efforts of 9 raid points went in vain.
Dabang raider Vijay Malik did not participate in the Tamil Thalaivas fixture due to fitness concerns and received well-deserved rest. Although he is likely to make a comeback on the mat and will directly walk into the Starting 7 replacing Krishan Dhull who is playing as an extra defender in the lineup. While UP gaffer Jasveer Singh may not consider any changes to sustain the winning momentum furthermore.
How have they done so far?
Coach Krishan Kumar Hooda and his Delhi just need one win from the remaining three fixtures to ensure their qualification in the playoffs round. The Capital-based franchise is currently standing in second place with 65 match-points from 19 games and are seven points clear of the third-placed Haryana Steelers.
The Yoddha has successfully maintained their position in the upper half of the table in such a crucial stage of the league. Three wins from the last three games boosted the confidence of the roster and helped the Uttar Pradesh-based franchise to keep themselves alive in the playoffs race.
Head to Head record
The Yoddha from the land of Uttar Pradesh is leading this head-to-head count against neighbors with a slight margin of one victory. UP has four wins under their badge while Dabang Delhi could register only three victories from seven encounters.
Key Players
Naveen Kumar: Naveen struggled a little bit with his form while making a comeback from injury but now it seems that he has got rid of it. A whopping total of 39 raid points from the last three games proves the point that now ‘The Naveen Express’ will just go on and on. In his previous visit to UP defense, Naveen scored a tally of 18 total points consisting of 12 touchpoints, 5 bonuses, and a solitary tackle point.
Pardeep Narwal: The sudden rise of Surender Gill and the rotation policy of coach Jasveer completely sidelined Pardeep from the limelight. But the record-breaker has bounced back and showcased his true colors by scoring consecutive Super 10s in the winning cause. In the last two fixtures, he scored 24 points from 35 raids with a 69% strike rate.
Predicted Starting 7’s
Dabang Delhi KC: Naveen Goyat, Vijay Malik, Neeraj Narwal, Sandeep Narwal, Manjeet Chhillar, Jeeva Kumar, Joginder Narwal (C)
UP Yoddha: Pardeep Narwal, Shrikant Jadhav, Surender Gill, Ashu Singh, Shubham Kumar Baliyan, Nitesh Kumar (C), Sumit Sangwan
Prediction
Dabang Delhi will become the second franchise from the Season 8 campaign to qualify for the playoffs stage if the blue side manages to attain five match-points from this fixture. Although it will be a tough assignment for the Dabang fauj to stop the Uttar Pradesh-based team cruising on a winning streak of three matches.