The second Eliminator battle of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 brings up another exciting contest between two combatants who will be leaving no stone unturned to advance through the next round. UP Yoddhas will be locking horns with the underdogs Tamil Thalaivas at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium of the City of Dreams on Tuesday from 8:30 PM onwards.
After making history with their qualification into the playoff round, the young unit of the Chennai-based franchise is determined to make it even more glorious by moving closer to the prestigious Pro Kabaddi trophy.
On the other hand, UP Yoddhas have successfully maintained its 100% record of making it to the Final 6 in each and every edition it appeared. The UP skipper Pardeep Narwal will be featuring in the knockout round for the first time as a captain since his heroics of Season 5.
Gaffer Jasveer Singh Sangwan utilized the last two league games quite well by offering game time to each and every player of his matchday squad. And now it’s time for the Yoddhas to get to their strength and bring back the deadly weapon named Surender Gill into the raiding artillery. Sandeep Narwal recently bagged a High 5 playing in his regular right-corner position hence it is going to be difficult for the UP head coach to retain him upon the comeback of Gill.
The star Thalaivas defender and former captain Sagar Rathee has left the squad to head back to his homeland Haryana in order to fasten up his recovery. Arpit Saroha is the only hope for the Yellow and Blues on the right-corner position and the Khelo India bronze medalist defender also leaving no stone unturned to capitalize on it. The raiding duo of Narender Kandola and Ajinkya Pawar also needs to surpass their offensive strategy against a well-settled defense of the UPY side.
How have they done so far?
The ninth edition journey of the Tamil Thalaivas side was truly a rollercoaster ride where they experienced certain highs and lows quite many times throughout the season. Even the injury of the PKL’s most expensive player of all time couldn’t undermine the morale of this courageous Yellow and Blues unit who eventually finished fifth in the league standings. Coach Ashan Kumar fielded his second-string Starting Seven against Haryana Steelers in their last league fixture where he offered much-needed game time to his backup options.
At one point, it seemed like the Season 9 campaign of UP Yoddhas had gone completely off-track and their streak of playoff qualification wouldn’t last long. However, the change in leadership did wonders for the Red and Blues as Nitesh Kumar started playing freely while the record-breaker grabbed the captaincy with both hands. The Yoddhas faced Puneri Paltan in a dead-rubber fixture where UP led by the veteran Sandeep Narwal registered a four-point victory over the Maharashtrian heavyweights.
Head to Head record
Ashan and his Thalaivas Army assembled for the challenge of the playoffs
The two latest entrants of the Pro Kabaddi roster have faced each other 12 times at the world’s grandest stage of Kabaddi. And the head-to-head record of those 12 encounters is currently favoring the UP-based franchise with five wins while their counterparts have emerged victorious on four occasions and three battles resulted in tied outcomes.
The most recent encounter between these two combatants occurred a couple of days ago where the Chennai-based outfit stunned the Yoddhas. The Thalaivas not only claimed five match points but also reserved their playoff berth for the first time in the franchise’s history after a 15-point thumping victory.
It was the revenge of Tamizhan Bosses who lost the first face-off of the season where UP crushed them in a one-sided manner. The final scoreline of that encounter favored the Yoddhas by 41-24 starring the left-corner Sumit Sangwan (7 tackle points) and the local right-cover defender Ashu Singh (6 tackle points).
Key Players
Pardeep Narwal: We have witnessed a vintage version of the Haryana-based raider since he has taken the captaincy responsibilities of UP. Pardeep featured in the Yoddhas Starting Seven against Mumba but was immediately subbed off by Jasveer Singh after getting captured in his very first raid of the match. The record-breaker is going to give tough times to the opposition defense as his track record indicates that he becomes even more dangerous when the elimination buzzer is on.
Ajinkya Pawar: The Maharashtrian raider is another player who has excelled significantly after getting rewarded with the captain’s armband. Ajinkya was not even regular during J Udayakumara’s reign but the tables have turned and now he is leading them in their first-ever playoff appearance. When the last time stepped out against UP, Pawar played a pivotal role in their 15-point triumph scoring 8 raid points and a solitary tackle point.
Predicted Starting 7s
UP Yoddhas: Pardeep Narwal (C), Surender Gill, Sandeep Narwal; Gurdeep Sangwan, Ashu Singh; Sumit Sangwan, Nitesh Kumar
Tamil Thalaivas: Narender Kandola, Ajinkya Pawar (C), Himanshu Yadav; Mohit Jakhar, M Abhishek; Sahil Gulia, Sagar Rathee
Prediction
UP is accommodated with many high-profile faces who are capable enough to outperform opponents in such under-pressure games. Tamil has stunned a lot of star-studded sides and the Yoddhas won’t be performing the blunder by underestimating them at any point in the game. Hence the battle between the heavyweights and giant killers is going to be a legendary one.