A battle between two heavyweights, table-toppers Dabang Delhi and inaugural Pro Kabaddi League champions Jaipur Pink Panthers is on the cards. Sandeep Dhull’s Giant-killer Jaipur will be taking on the capital-based franchise in Match 90 of the PKL 8 caravan at Sheraton Grand Whitefield Hotel in Bengaluru.
Former Jaipur Pink Panthers captain Manjeet Chhillar will be guarding the Delhi fortress against the invaders from the royal land of Rajasthan. While Jaipur’s current captain Sandeep Dhull made his PKL debut with the Dabang Delhi franchise in the third edition of Pro Kabaddi.
Delhi’s inaugural seven-match undefeated streak was broken by Pink Panthers the last time these franchises encountered each other. Jaipur became the first team to defeat Dabang fauj this season as the Capital-based franchise was looking invincible at the start of season eight. Pink Panthers’ defense also broke 28 Super 10s humongous streak of Naveen Kumar Goyat whose participation in this clash is still uncertain.
Delhi may stick to the same lineup if the raiding sensation Naveen is unable to prove his match fitness. Krishan Kumar Hooda will retain the same combination consisting of two specialist raiders, four specialist defenders, and all-rounder Sandeep Narwal in an independent role. Emerging raider Naveen Kumar Bazzad may make a comeback to the Jaipur Starting 7 replacing all-rounder Sachin Narwal who couldn’t do much in the given chance.
How have they done so far?
Recently Dabang Delhi snatched the table-toppers crown from Bengaluru Bulls and also became the first team to claim 50 match-points in season eight. A complete team effort from Delhi stormed the U Mumba side in their previous fixture where 26 out of 36 total points were contributed by the raiding unit of the blue side.
On the other hand, a thumping 21-point victory over in-form Patna Pirates will boost the confidence of the Jaipur roster but there’s still a long way to go. The Pink Panthers are currently standing in the eighth position in the points table with 40 match-points from 14 games in hand. They have a golden chance to surmount the above rank-holders with the advantage of having played one game less than them.
Head to head record
The previous victory gave Jaipur a tiny lead in this rivalry and the Rajasthan-based franchise currently stands on four wins over the counterparts. While Dabang Delhi KC won the head-to-head battle thrice and two fixtures remained resultless among them. A two-point victory on a scoreline of 30-28 was a huge relief for Jaipur as Dabangs were cruising on an undefeated streak of six matches against them.
Key Players
Arjun Deshwal: The Services raider destroyed the Patna Pirates side by scoring 17 raid points with a strike rate of 85% against the League’s most ravenous defense. Arjun is on a red-hot form after bagging 55 raid points with an average of 14 from the last four fixtures and also achieved Super 10s from all of them. Although the youngster never scored a Super 10 against Delhi and could score just 27 raid points from four encounters with Dabangs.
A trademark running hand-touch from Arjun Deshwal
Manjeet Chhillar: The most successful defender in the history of Pro Kabaddi has delivered peak performances in his last two games. He claimed nine tackle points and two High 5s from the last two fixtures including a ‘Defender of the Match’ award against U Mumba. The former Jaipur captain missed both encounters against the Pink Panthers last season while representing Tamil Thalaivas and is yet to score a single point against them since his departure.
Predicted Starting 7’s
Jaipur Pink Panthers: Arjun Deshwal, Deepak Niwas Hooda, Naveen Bazzad, Vishal Lather, Deepak Singh, Sandeep Dhull (C), Sahul Kumar
Dabang Delhi: Vijay Malik, Ashu Malik, Sandeep Narwal, Manjeet Chhillar, Jeeva Kumar, Joginder Narwal (C), Krishan Dhull
Prediction
It’s a Do-or-Die game for Jaipur Pink Panthers to stay alive in the playoffs qualification race. While Dabang Delhi will be looking forward to maintaining their stance at the top of the standings by claiming all five match-points from this fixture. It will be exciting to see if Delhi avenges their previous defeat or Jaipur completes a double over the current table-toppers.