The first Super Sunday of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 has arrived with a lineup of breathtaking fixtures between the Kabaddi powerhouses. The throbbing action of the third matchday will be held at Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium of Bengaluru on Monday from 7:30 PM onwards.
The flashback scenes of the PKL 4 Grand Finale will be relieved when the inaugural champions will be sharing the battlefield with the most decorated Pro Kabaddi franchise of all time. Meanwhile, the home team Bengaluru Bulls will be summoned by the Paltan from the historic land of Maharashtra in the final fixture of the day.
Match 7: Jaipur Pink Panthers vs Patna Pirates
The inaugural champions were edged past by the UP Yoddha in the third fixture of the opening matchday on the final scoreline of 34-32. The Pink Panthers were in a commanding position during their opening at one point but couldn’t carry further the momentum and ended up on the losing side due to the sloppy finish. The Bihar-based franchise will need to put up a strong team effort just like the Yoddhas did against the same opponent on Friday.
The rivalry between the inaugural champions and three-time trophy winners has always been neck-to-neck and the current head-to-head count stands as 9-7 in the favour of the Greens. Despite the ground-breaking success in the league stages of the previous season, the Pirates still couldn’t get the better of the Pink Panthers on both occasions. The two old foes also faced each other in the Grand Finale of the fourth edition which ended with Patna becoming the first and only PKL franchise to successfully defend its title.
Jaipur gaffer Sanjeev Baliyan kick-started his PKL coaching career by winning the PKL trophy for Patna in the third edition while the newly appointed Pirates head coach was also part of the Pink Panthers coaching staff once.
The young assailant of Jaipur, Arjun Deshwal owned the Patna defense in both encounters of the previous season and also dominated his direct opponent Mohammadreza Shadloui who was donning the left corner position back then. It will be really difficult for the Pirates’ defensive line to tackle the storm of the Services raider marching towards them.
The team balance and strengths of both combatants are almost on the same level hence it is quite difficult to predict the winner of this saga. Although, the Pink Panthers will have a slight advantage of getting a one-day rest before turning up for their second fixture.
Predicted Starting Seven
Jaipur Pink Panthers: Arjun Deshwal, Rahul Chaudhari, V Ajith Kumar; KS Abhishek, Sunil Malik (C); Ankush Rathee, Sahul Kumar
Patna Pirates: Sachin Tanwar, Rohit Gulia, Vishwas Gowda; Sajin Chandrasekar, Neeraj Kumar (C); Thiyagrajan Yuvraj, Sunil Narwal
Match 8: Telugu Titans vs Bengal Warriors
The Titans are eying on a thumping comeback
The opening fixture went exactly opposite to how everyone expected it as the star-studded Titans lineup stood on the losing side when the full-time whistle of the second match was blown. Each and every strategy of the Telugu management backfired against a solid display of Bengaluru Bulls who took the valuable match points on the scoreline of 34-29 in favor of the Red and Blacks. The high-profile hand-to-hand combat between Bengal raiding unit and the vigilant Telugu defensive line will be a legendary one.
The rivalry between these two prosperous cities Kolkata and Hyderabad has been often referred to as the Battle of Biryani by their devoted supporters. The defending champions are cruising on an undefeated streak of nine games against the Hyderabad-based outfit. The competition in this battle was so high in the previous season that the first encounter was won by the Warriors with a one-point margin meanwhile, the second game was drawn on the scoreline of 32-32.
When the right-raider Maninder Singh will be entering into the court of Yellow and Blacks, he will be indulged in direct combat with the rocky right-corner defender Surjeet. Both of the star players were part of the Warriors’ roster for a couple of seasons and played pivotal roles in the resurgence of the Kolkata-based franchise.
The veteran raiding all-rounder of Bengal, Deepak Hooda was the second-highest paid player of the inaugural season when his services were acquired by Titans at the auction price of 12.6 lakh.
The unavailability of Abhishek Singh may reward Rajnish Dalal with an opportunity to make his first start of the season however, it is still not confirmed whether they will continue with Siddharth Desai and Monu Goyat or not. The on-paper star power of the Yellow and Blacks make them favourites to emerge victorious from this contest despite the recent disaster class.
Predicted Starting Seven
Telugu Titans: Siddharth Desai, Vinay Redhu, Rajnish Dalal; Parvesh Bhainswal, Surjeet; Vishal Bharadwaj, Ravinder Pahal (C)
Bengal Warriors: Maninder Singh (C), Shrikant Jadhav, Deepak Niwas Hooda; Parveen Satpal, Ashish Sangwan; Surender Nada, Shubham Shinde
Match 9: Puneri Paltan vs Bengaluru Bulls
Colleagues then, rivals now!
The home team will be returning on the third matchday to take on the challenge of the familiar foes Puneri Paltan and aim for a consecutive victory. The Bulls were considered least favourites in the previous game but still managed to trample down the dark horses Telugu Titans. Bengaluru’s offensive unit must be planning to launch a silent attack on the low-profile defense of Pune which was their major weakness in the early stages of the previous season.
The head-to-head record between these two neighbourhood rivals slightly favours the Orange Stallions who are currently standing with 8 wins. Meanwhile, the Bulls from the land of Kannada have emerged victorious on seven occasions against the Paltan. The one-on-one battle of Season 8 remained equal to 1-1 as the fully charged Bulls won the opening game comprehensively but got vanquished by the rivals in the following encounter.
The Paltan general BC Ramesh was part of the coaching staff that guided the Karnataka-based franchise towards the champions podium of Season 6. Having worked under Randhir Singh Sehrawat on several occasions, Ramesh is well-acquainted with the coaching method of the latter one and must be aiming to counter it down on Sunday. The Pune camp is quite confident of their knight Aslam Inamdar who will be up against the sturdy defensive duo of captain Mahender Singh and vice-captain Saurabh Nandal.
The debutant Narender Hooda who made an impressive cameo appearance recently is likely to replace Mayur Kadam in the Starting Seven. As per the current form and the absence of Iranian players, the Bulls are clear favourites to win here and climb right to the top of the Season 9 standings.
Predicted Starting Seven
Puneri Paltan: Aslam Inamdar (C), Mohit Goyat, Pankaj Mohite; Sanket Sawant, Abinesh Nadarajan; Badal Poriya, Sombir Gulia
Bengaluru Bulls: Vikash Kandola, Neeraj Narwal, Bharat Hooda; Mahender Singh (C), Narender Hooda; Aman Antil, Saurabh Nandal