PKL 9: Gujarat Giants to clash with UP Yoddhas

Pardeep Narwal has started to find his feet again in the league.

UP Yoddhas after losing two consecutive encounters got back to the winning way by defeating Bengaluru Bulls (44-37) in a high-scoring encounter. Pardeep Narwal was the star of the match scoring his first super 10 of the season and looked at his prime. UP Yoddhas after two wins and two losses occupy the fourth spot in the points table. And the Pardeep Narwal-led UP Yoddhas will play Gujarat Giants in their next game.

Gujarat Giants did not have a good last game losing in a low-scoring encounter to Jaipur Pink Panthers (25-17). None of the main raiders was able to score more than five points summing up the team’s performance. In the four matches, Gujarat Giants have lost twice and won and tied a match each.

Team News

Gujarat Giants

Raiders: Chandran Ranjit, Mahendra Rajput, Dong Geon Lee, Purna Singh, Sonu, Pardeep Kumar, Rakesh, Gaurav Chhikara, Sohit, Sonu Singh, Sawin

All-Rounders: Arkam Shaikh, Parteek Dhaiya, Rohan Singh, Shankar Gadai

Defenders: Vinod Kumar, Young Chang Ko, Rinku Narwal, Baldev Singh, Sourav Gulia, Sandeep Kandola, Manuj, Kapil, Ujjval Singh

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

Gujarat Giants and UP Yoddhas have faced each other in seven matches in the Pro Kabaddi League of which Gujarat Giants have won four matches whereas UP Yoddhas has come out victorious on one occasion with two matches ending in a tie.

Player to watch

Pardeep Narwal “the Dubki King” was back to his best in the last game against Bengaluru Bulls scoring 14 raid points and was the top scorer in the presence of primary raider Surendar Gill. This was also the first super 10 of the season for the dubki king. If Pardeep Narwal can continue to put in the same performance then UP Yoddhas will be the team to beat with Nitin Tomar too in the ranks.

Rakesh Kumar had an off game in the last match against Jaipur Pink Panthers scoring less than five raid points. None of the other raiders stood up to support Rakesh in his absence leading to the collapse. The team is heavily dependent on Rakesh to perform consistently with Chandran Ranjith helping out in crucial situations.

Key to Success

UP Yoddhas are playing well in both the raiding and defence complementing each other well. In the defence, Ashu Singh has been the standout with Sumit and Nitesh in the ranks. The team should look to continue in a similar way as they did in the previous match which has been inconsistent in the first few games.

Gujarat Giants were a young and inexperienced squad with Ram Mehar Singh depending on the youngsters to come good. Apart from Rakesh, not many have stood up in tough situations along with the captain Chandran Ranjith. The likes of Shankar Gadai and Partheek Dahiya need to step up as soon as possible.

Did you know

Pardeep Narwal from the UP Yoddhas has scored 1381 raid points in Pro Kabaddi League playing majorly for Patna Pirates in the first few seasons. 

Broadcast - PKL 9

Time: 07:30 PM

Streaming: Star Sports / Disney + Hotstar