Tamil Thalaivas will lock horns with Puneri Paltan in what promises to be an exciting battle in match 23 of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 at the Sheraton Grand Whitefield Hotel and Convention Centre in Bengaluru. The two teams are lying in the bottom half of the points table and will be desperate to register a victory in this match.
The Tamil Thalaivas are 10th in the standings as luck hasn’t favored them in the season so far. On the other hand, Puneri Paltan holds the wooden spoon currently with just a solitary win in PKL 8 so far. With 5 points in their bag, the franchise is tied on points with Telugu Titans but a heavy defeat against Patna Pirates in the last game meant that they are lagging in the score difference section.
Puneri Paltan’s tackling has been poor and has conceded the 3rd most points (113) in the league so far. The Vishal Bhardwaj-led side has also conceded the most number of all-outs in PKL 8 and that will be a worrying factor for them.
How have they done so far?
Puneri Paltan has been on the losing side on a couple of occasions. They have lost by a margin of more than 10 points in both the encounters and hence, the Anup Kumar-coached team is at the bottom of the table.
In the previous match against the Patna Pirates, the Pirates ran away with the lead in the second half and Paltan lacked composure on the mat. Their big signings like Manjeet Chillar, Rahul Chaudhari have failed so far and that will be a cause of concern for the Pune-based franchise.
Tamil Thalaivas are yet to register a win in this edition but it’s a matter of time before they do. The Surjeet Singh-led side hasn’t relied on a single star performer and the team has delivered as a unit so far.
U Mumba’s V Ajith Kumar’s brilliance in the previous match single-handedly denied Tamil Thalaivas a victory. But against a Puneri Paltan side that has a weak defense, the raiding trio of Athul MS, K Prapanjan, and Manjeet will be the ones to watch out for.
Head to head record
The two teams have met on four occasions in the PKL and have won a solitary match apiece. Both the matches in PKL Season 7 ended in a tie.
Key Players
Mohit Goyat will be one of the key players for Puneri Paltan in the ongoing PKL 8
Mohit Goyat: The K7 Kabaddi Stageup star announced his arrival as he scored 9 points against the Telugu Titans. In the previous match against the Patna Pirates, his all-round show was the lone silver lining for the warriors as he scored 4 raid points and 3 tackle points. He also inflicted a super tackle and is one of the players to watch out for in PKL 8.
Surjeet Singh: The Tamil Thalaivas skipper has been the best defender on the mat with 3 points in the competition so far and leads the points tally. The experienced cover defender is on the mat for over 74% of the time and has been a leader for the young players.
Predicted Starting 7s
Puneri Paltan: Mohit Goyat, Abinesh Nadarajan, Aslam Inamdar, Sombir, Vishal Bhardwaj, Nitin Tomar
Tamil Thalaivas: Manjeet, Surjeet Singh, Athul MS, Bhavani Rajput, Sagar, Sahil Singh, Mohit
Prediction
Both the teams are lying at the bottom of the points table. However, the Tamil Thalaivas is a better team than their position on the points table while Puneri Paltan has to solve a variety of problems. The Thalaivas will be the favorites going into this match and can register their first win of PKL 8.