PKL 9 Day 31 Live Updates: UP Yoddhas vs Telugu Titans

07:30 PM: Hello and welcome to Khel Now’s live update of Day 31 of PKL season 9.

Bengal Warriors vs Gujarat Giants

Gujarat Giants after a five-day break will be up against Bengal Warriors. Gujarat won their last encounter against Bengaluru Bulls (46-44) with both Rakesh Kumar and Partheek Dahiya scoring super 10s. Rakesh after a dip in form for a few games was back to form scoring 10 raid points. Gujarat Giants will take on Maninder Singh’s Bengal Warriors in PKL 9.

Bengal Warriors tied their last encounter against UP Yoddhas (41-41) with Maninder Singh scoring the majority of the points. The 32-year-old star raider scored 18 raid points which is almost half the team’s score. 

Head to Head

Gujarat Giants and Bengal Warriors have faced other eight times in the Pro Kabaddi League out of which, Gujarat Giants have won three whereas Bengal Warriors have come out victorious on three occasions with two matches ending in a tie. 

Player to watch

Girish Maruthi Ernak was exceptional in the initial games of Pro Kabaddi season 9 but lost the plot in the latter half of the season. In a few matches, he single-handedly scored the majority of the tackle points and even finish his high 5 in the first half itself. He will be up against two top most raiders from Gujarat Giant Rakesh and Partheek. 

Rinku Narwal will be the experienced defender in the Sourav Gulia in the absence of injury. In the past few matches, it was difficult for teams to stop Maninder Singh to stop scoring raiding points and it will be hard for the inexperienced defending unit of Gujarat to stop the experienced raider. Rinku needs to step up and take responsibility.

UP Yoddhas vs Telugu Titans

UP Yoddhas notched up a good victory in the last encounter against Haryana Steelers (40-34). Surinder Gill scored yet another super 10 after returning from an injury and the team overall put up a great fight. Ashu along with Sumit and Nitesh Kumar made equal contributions to the victory against Haryana. Bottom-placed Telugu Titans will play UP Yoddhas in the next PKL 9 game.

Telugu Titans lost the last encounter to Dabang Delhi KC (34-40) in a closely fought contest. Vishal Bharadwaj scored eight tackle points and was his first high 5 in PKL season 9. Siddharth Desai has started to show consistency scoring his third successive super 10.

Head to Head

Bengal Warriors and Dabang Delhi K.C. have faced each other 11 times in the Pro Kabaddi League out of which, Telugu Titans have won two matches whereas UP Yoddhas has come out victorious on seven occasions with two matches ending in a tie.

Player to watch

Abhishek Singh after coming back from injury hasn’t shown signs of intent while raiding. He was the top raider for U Mumba in the past few seasons but is not able to replicate the same after his return from injury. With Siddharth returning to form it is time for Abhishek to support him as the secondary raider and help revive him whenever required. The problem is Siddhart alone cannot score all the raid points which makes Abhishek Singh’s responsibility even stronger.

Surinder Gill after returning to the playing 7 scored another super 10 and this time he will be up against Vishal Bharadwaj. Vishal has been highly inconsistent in PKL season 9 and Gill shall make use of this opportunity and attack him frequently. Under pressure, Vishal makes too many mistakes that can go in Gill’s favour.

Jaipur Pink Panthers vs Dabang Delhi

Jaipur Pink Panthers and Dabang Delhi will be up against each other in match 76 of the Pro Kabaddi League PKL season 9 on Saturday, November 12. Delhi got their first win in 5 games when they defeated Telegu Titans while the Panthers after a bit of stutter seem to be getting back to their best. The last time these two teams met in the season Jaipur defeated the defending champions.

Head-to-Head

Dabang Delhi KC and Jaipur Pink Panthers have faced each other 19 times in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). Delhi have won seven times, while Jaipur came out victorious on ten occasions. Two matches ended in a tie.

Players to watch

V Ajith Kumar of the Jaipur Pink Panthers has been a disappointment this season. However, this is an excellent opportunity for Ajith to regain his confidence and form against Dabang Delhi, whose defence has repeatedly surrendered points. This will allow Arjun Deshwal to play freely and without feeling pressed.

Ashu Malik has been the most improved raider for Dabang Delhi, replacing Manjeet as the backup raider. The kid had a sluggish start to the season but has scored points comparable to Naveen Kumar in the last week. Ashu must maintain his form without putting too much pressure on Naveen.