PKL 9: Gujarat Giants will face Tamil Thalaivas in a do-or-die game

It's a do-or-die game for the Giants' side.

Tamil Thalaivas were hammered by Jaipur Pink Panthers in their last encounter losing by 15 point margin (26-41). Narender Kandola did not have any answer to Jaipur’s defence getting tackled consistently along with secondary raider Ajinkya Pawar. Sagar the main defender was stretchered out after an injury in the first half has made things worse for Tamil Thalaivas.

Gujarat Giants lost their last encounter to Dabang Delhi KC (47-50). Giants was trailing by a big margin at the end of the first half but Partheek Dahiya along with Sonu put in a spirited effort to take the game closer. Gujarat Giants could only score one tackle point in the entire match which was scored by Sourav Gulia.

Team News

Gujarat Giants

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

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

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

Tamil Thalaivas

Raiders: Pawan Sehrawat, Ajinkya Ashok Pawar, Himanshu, Jatin, Himanshu

All-rounders: Thanushan Laxmamohan, Visvanath V, K Abhimanyu

Defenders: Sagar, Sahil, M Abishek, Mohit, Himanshu, Ashish, Md Arif Rabbani, Arpit Saroha, Ankit

Head to Head

Tamil Thalaivas and Gujarat Giants have faced each other seven times in the Pro Kabaddi League out of which, Gujarat Giants has won four matches whereas Tamil Thalaivas has come out victorious on two occasions with one match ending in a tie.

Player to watch

Sourav Gulia has made a return to the starting 7 and shall look to control the defence who have looked out of colour in the last encounter. The defence scored only one point in the entire match and will be low on confidence. With the chances of getting to the playoffs looking slim the defence needs to put up a good show in the upcoming matches.

Sahil Gulia will have to take over the control of defence from Sagar who looks set to miss the next couple of matches due to injury. Sahil is the next-best defender for Tamil Thalaivas this season and will be up against Partheek Dahiya who has been in terrific form.

Key to Success

Narender Kandola and Ajinkya Pawar need to get back to form and score raid points as there are not many backups available. The cover of Abhishek and Mohit has been the weak link for the entire season and this combo should be wary of Partheek Dahiya who has a long reach and is good at taking touchpoints.

The raiding department with the inclusion of Sonu has looked good and it is now up to the defensive unit to score tackle points. The Gujarat defence needs to only focus on the left flank as there are no quality raiders to operate from the right side. So Rinku Narwal will play an important role.

Did you know

Chandran Ranjith of Gujarat Giants is ten points away from reaching the 500 raid points mark in the Pro Kabaddi League.

Broadcast

Time - 07:30 PM

Streaming - Star Sports / Disney + Hotstar