PKL 9: Rising Patna Pirates will play Pardeep Narwal's UP Yoddhas

The three-time winners will welcome their former star-raider into the game.

On Friday, the Patna Pirates will face their neighbours, the UP Yoddhas, in match 44 of the Pro Kabaddi League PKL season 9.

The Pirates won their first game of the season, defeating table toppers Dabang Delhi, and were on track to win again against the Bengaluru Bulls, but the Bulls made an incredible comeback to tie the game at 31-31. The Pirates currently occupy the 10th position on the points table.

The Yoddhas, on the other hand, are ninth in the points table with three wins from six games. Their defenders are in good form, and Pardeep Narwal has returned to his former self. In their previous game, they defeated Tamil Thalaivas 41-24.

Team News

Patna Pirates

Raiders: Sachin, Monu, Anand Tomar, Sushil Gulia, Vishwas S, Rohit, Ranjit Naik, Anuj Kumar

All-Rounder: Rohit Gulia, Sajin C, Sager Kumar, Abdul Insamam, Mohammadreza Chiyaneh, Daniel Odhiambo

Defenders: Neeraj Kumar, Sunil, Thiyagarajan Yuvaraj, Manish, Shivam Chaudhary, Naveen Sharma

UP Yoddhas

Raiders: Pardeep Narwal, Surender Gill, Nitin Tomar, Anil Kumar, Mahipal, Rohit Tomar, Aman, Durgesh Kumar, Rathan K, Gulveer Singh.

All-Rounders: Gurdeep, Nehal Desai, Nitin Panwar

Defenders: Nitesh Kumar, Sumit, Ashu Singh, Shubham Kumar, Abozar Mohajermighani, Babu M, Jaideep

Head to Head

Patna Pirates and U.P. Yoddhas have met in 11 Pro Kabaddi matches. Patna Pirates have won six of the eleven games played, while U.P. Yoddhas have won four.

Player to watch

Sunil has been in terrific touch in defence. While most of Patna's defence has struggled this season, he is the only defender from the side in the top 10. Patna will rely on him to stop the in-form Pardeep Narwal.

For UP Yoddhas' Pardeep Narwal is back in form so all eyes will be on him as to how he performs against his previous franchise. He couldn't do much last season in the knockout match against the Pirates, so he would be itching to get back to the mat against Patna.

Key to success

If Patna Pirates play even remotely like they did against the Bulls, they will be able to challenge the Yoddhas. The Patna Pirates defence has begun to find its footing, and both Rohit Gulia and Sachin are succeeding as lead raiders.

UP, on the other hand, has had a slight defence issue in their most recent games, but Pardeep Narwal's return to form has somewhat made up for it. So if Yoddhas defence has a good day on the mat it'd be their game to lose.

Did you know

Pardeep Narwal was the captain of Patna Pirates when they won their 3rd title on the track.

Broadcast – PKL 9

Time – 09:30 PM

Streaming – Star Sports / Disney + Hotstar