The league stage action of Season 9 has come to its penultimate stage as the Pro Kabaddi caravan is also preparing to move the Maharashtrian capital for the knockout round. Gachibowli Indoor Stadium of the City of Nizams will be hosting the final double-header saga of the Hyderabad leg on Friday from 7:30 PM onwards.
The Matchday 55 will be kick-started with a high-profile encounter between an in-form Gujarat Giants side and the table-toppers Jaipur Pink Panthers. Then the battlefield will be occupied by the two playoff combatants Puneri Paltan and UP Yoddhas who will be having final preparations ahead of the doomsday round.
Match 126: Gujarat Giants vs Jaipur Pink Panthers
The table-toppers of the inaugural edition are eyeing to replicate the history!
The inaugural champions Jaipur Pink Panthers brought their winning streak to five games after their emphatic victory over the mid-table challengers Haryana Steelers. Those five consecutive victories have come with a winning margin of 95 points to bring up the score difference tally of the table-toppers to the whopping sum of 174 points. Meanwhile, Gujarat Giants are also marching on a winning streak of four straight games including a victory over then-table-toppers Puneri Paltan.
Against all odds, the first chapter of the Classic Western Derby between two neighboring rivals from Gujarat and Rajasthan turned out to be a low-scoring saga. The legendary assailant Rahul Chaudhari was the highest scorer from the Pink Panthers camp with five raid points in a game where a draught of points occurred. On the other hand, the Maharashtra skipper Shankar Gadai (3 tackle points) was the player from the Gujarat Starting Seven to score more than two points.
Gujarat head coach Ram Mehar Singh made a solitary change in the Gujarat lineup for the Telugu Titans fixture as the first-choice right-cover option Sourav Gulia failed to prove his fitness. Sourav was replaced by another Haryana-based defender Kapil Narwal who fetched one point in his maiden PKL start. The captaincy responsibility is suiting the Korean assailant Dong Geon Lee who has been playing a pivotal role in the sudden resurgence of the Ahmedabad Reds.
The orange armband holder left-corner Ankush Rathee suffered a minor injury in the 11th minute of their most recent fixture which kept him on the sidelines for the rest of the play. Sanjeev Baliyan is likely to make major changes for the last league stage by resting some of the big faces to keep them fresh for the knockouts. Jaipur management is expected to continue the 5-2 combination having Ashish Bajar in the left-corner position.
It is quite hard to predict the winner of this contest between two in-form units of Pro Kabaddi who have run riots in the past couple of game-weeks. However, the Ahmedabad-based franchise stands with slightly brighter winning chances considering their aspiration to emerge victorious is relatively higher.
Predicted Starting Seven
Gujarat Giants: Dong Geon Lee (C), Parteek Dahiya, Sonu Jaglan; Arkam Shaikh, Kapil Narwal; Rinku Narwal, Shankar Gadai
Jaipur Pink Panthers: Ajith Kumar, Rahul Chaudhari; Abhishek KS, Reza Mirbagheri, Sunil Kumar (C); Ashish Bajar, Sahul Kumar
Match 127: Puneri Paltan vs UP Yoddhas
Another local lad of Puneri Paltan on verge of becoming a PKL superstar
Despite the absence of their two strike-raiders, Puneri Paltan handed a 14-point defeat to the three-time champions Patna Pirates in their previous appearances on Monday. The throbbing win over the PKL’s most decorated franchise has now made it official that the Maharashtrian outfit will be featured directly into the penultimate stage of the tournament. UP had a golden opportunity to defeat Bengaluru and overtake them in the standings however, the Yoddhas stumbled down by just a 2 points deficit.
When the last time these two heavyweights were up against each other at the grandest stage of PKL, the valuable five match points were claimed by the Oranges with a nine-point triumph. UP surprisingly came up with a five-defender formation for the big game however, they still managed to fetch only five tackle points combined. The Nashik boy Akash Shinde who was promoted to the starting lineup after the unavailability of Aslam took the Balewadi Arena by storm and scored 15 raid points at an astonishing strike rate of 71%.
We may not see a glimpse of the star raiding duo of Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat in this fixture even if they are able to recover from their fitness setbacks. The current form of Pankaj Mohite and the Iranian Mohammad Nabibakhsh makes the Maharashtrian outfit the deadliest offensive unit in the playoffs. Gaffer BC Ramesh will be also eyeing to provide game time to the second-choice defenders such as Gaurav Khatri, Badal Poriya and Govind Gurjar.
Despite having already qualified for the playoffs, this fixture stands with importance as the outcome will determine their opponents in the Eliminator round. Surender Gill was seen toiling hard for his awaited return to the battlefield in the pre-match training videos of the fourth-placed UP Yoddhas side. It will be interesting to see who makes way for the towering Haryana-born raider if he barges into the Starting Seven.
This fixture is supposed to be a dead rubber for both of the heavyweights however, none of them would be willing to risk their momentum right before the playoffs. It will be a great opportunity for the Pune defense to face such a quality raiding unit at this point of the tournament where they can use each and every weapon of their arsenal without any hesitation.
Predicted Starting Seven
Puneri Paltan: Akash Shinde, Mohammad Nabibakhsh, Pankaj Mohite; Sanket Sawant, Abinesh Nadarajan; Fazel Atrachali (C), Sombir Gulia
UP Yoddhas: Pardeep Narwal (C), Rohit Tomar, Sandeep Narwal; Gurdeep Sangwan, Ashu Singh; Sumit Sangwan, Nitesh Kumar