Telugu Titans vs Patna Pirates: Preview and Prediction
Patna Pirates are ready to make a comeback to the mat after the postponement of their two previous fixtures for anonymous reasons. They will be taking on the enraged roster of Telugu Titans in match number 78 of the PKL season 8 at Bengaluru’s Sheraton Grand Whitefield Hotel.
The PKL universe is charged up to see the three-time champions back in action after a long halt. The most decorated franchise in the history of PKL is resuming its campaign after a break of seven days. Patna lost their striking rhythm after losing two out of three previous matches but the legendary Pirates gaffer Ram Mehar Singh is famous for memorable comebacks from such circumstances.
The youngster Guman Singh acquired Monu Goyat’s position in the lineup and went on to score 11 raid points in two starts. Guman will make way for the Services star if Monu proves his fitness while right corner Sunil Narwal is also set to make a comeback replacing Shubham Shinde in the Starting 7.
Telugu Titans fans saw a subtle ray of hope after a victory over inaugural champions Jaipur Pink Panthers but the following two defeats burst the yearns of the Yellow Brigade. Titans were off-color against Bengaluru Bulls in the absence of Rajnish Dalal who missed the clash citing fitness reasons, he will be back in the Starting 7 to accompany Ankit Beniwal and Adarsh T in the raiding department. Coach Jagadeesh Kumble may replace Price D with veteran cover defender C Arun who gave an impressive cameo performance previously.
How have they done so far?
The crown of table-toppers currently belongs to Pawan’s Bengaluru Bulls side although Patna Pirates are not far away from it, having the advantage of fewer matches played compared to others. The Bihar-based franchise lost an intense contest with Dabang Delhi KC where both Goyats (Monu and Naveen) were absent.
On the other hand, Telugu Titans’ season 8 journey has been completely contrary to Pirates as the Hyderabad-based franchise managed to win only once in their 13 attempts. Sandeep Kandola is the fourth player to lead Titans in the short journey so far, others being Rohit Kumar, Siddharth Desai, and Surinder Singh. They’re currently hitting rock bottom of the points table with 19 points and a win against Pirates won’t mount them up in the standings.
Head to head record
Titans with nine victories are edging the Patna Pirates who are currently cruising on eight wins in the head-to-head record of this rivalry. In their previous face-off, Patna registered a thrilling one-point victory over the counterparty on a scoreline of 31-30. Pirates are now aiming for this clash to level the head-to-head count with the Yellow Brigade.
Key Players
Adarsh T: After Rajnish and Ankit, another emerging raider Adarsh T is carrying the offensive responsibilities of Telugu Titans. The 23-year-old Kerala-based all-rounder is making headlines through his raiding prowess after scoring 25 raid points in his last three appearances. His tally of 9 raid points with a 100% strike rate against Jaipur Pink Panthers helped the Yellow Brigade to register the season’s first and only victory.
Will the Patna Pirates defense be able to stop Adarsh T?
Sachin Tanwar: The Rajasthan-based raider is filling the position of the main raider since the exclusion of Monu Goyat from the last two games. Tanwar is leading the raid point charts for the Patna Pirates with 68 raid points from 11 fixtures of season eight. He also possesses a defensive threat on opposition raiders after having a High 5 in his season eight tally.
Predicted Starting 7’s
Telugu Titans: Rajnish Dalal, Adarsh T, Ankit Beniwal, C Arun, Surinder Singh, Sandeep Kandola (C), Akash Choudhary
Patna Pirates: Sachin Tanwar, Prashanth Kumar Rai (C), Monu Goyat, Sajin Chandrasekar, Neeraj Kumar, Mohammadreza Shadloui, Sunil Narwal
Prediction
Patna Pirates are considered as favorites for this encounter but it will be quite hard for Ram Mehar Singh and his scholars to gain back the same tempo quickly hence Titans have a golden opportunity to take the first step to amend the disastrous season eight campaign.