PKL 9: Tamil Thalaivas to clash with Jaipur Pink Panthers

All eyes will be on Narender and Arjun Deshwal.

Tamil Thalaivas hammered U Mumba in the last encounter defeating them by a 14-point margin (34-20) and look set to make it to the playoffs for the first time in Pro Kabaddi League. Sagar Rathee scored his 5th high 5 and has combined well with Sahil Gulia from the left corner position and now looks like a lethal combo. 

Jaipur Pink Panthers lost their previous encounter against Puneri Paltan and lost a golden opportunity to move ahead of Bengaluru Bulls for the 2nd position. Arjun Deshwal once again was the lone raider battling out and scored yet another super 10. The defenders looked out of form costing Jaipur the game. 

Team News

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Raiders: Ajith V Kumar, Arjun Deshwal, Devank, Rahul Chaudhari, Nitin Panwar, Navneet, Bhavani Rajput

Defenders: Sunil Kumar, Abhishek KS, Ashish, Ankush, Sahul Kumar, Deepak, Woosan KO, Lucky Sharma, Reza Mirbagheri, Nitin Chandel

All-Rounder: Rahul Gorakh Dhanawade

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 Jaipur Pink Panthers have faced each other seven times in the Pro Kabaddi League out of which, Jaipur Pink Panthers has won three matches whereas Tamil Thalaivas has come out victorious on two occasions with two matches ending in a tie.

Player to watch

It will be the battle of Narender Kandola against Sahul Kumar the right-corner defender. Narender has been excellent at taking bonus points and is one of the many raiders in PKL to majorly rely on bonus points to gain momentum. Along with the bonus, Narender has scored several points using Dubki which too has been his main weapon.

Ankush in his debut season has been the player to watch out for tackling top-class raiders without much experience playing against them. With Tamil Thalaivas not possessing quality right raiders, Ankush needs to be proactive and look to tackle Ajinkya Pawar who has been good at both raid and defence.

Key to Success

Tamil Thalaivas has got all the bases covered with only the cover combo of Abhishek and Mohit looking as a weak point. Both the defenders have made many unsuccessful tackles and have an aggressive approach which at times has backfired and at the same time worked in their favour as well. The combo needs to move away from Arjun Deshwal’s radar and not give away easy points.

Jaipur Pink Panthers need a secondary raider to operate if Arjun Deshwal fails to score which has been the only concern for the franchise. Tamil Thalaivas' defence has looked lethal in the last couple of games and if they keep Arjun quiet then either Ajith Kumar or Rahul Chaudhari needs to take the responsibility.

Did you know

Tamil Thalaivas are currently in the 6th position with 48 points in the points table which is their best performance since their inception in season 5. The previous best was 47 points.

Broadcast

Time - 08:30 PM

Streaming - Star Sports / Disney + Hotstar