PKL 9: Puneri Paltan eye top spot in clash against UP Yoddhas

The Paltans are just three points behind the current table leaders Bengaluru Bulls with a game in hand.

UP Yoddhas will take on Puneri Paltan in match 58 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 9 on November 4, Friday. It promises to be an exciting contest between Yoddhas raiders and Paltan's defence.

Puneri Paltan have suddenly found their rhythm on home turf and are undefeated in their last six matches. In their last game, they beat the defending champions Dabang Delhi by 43-38 margin and currently sit second on the PKL 9 points table.

While the Yoddhas have a mixed last five matches. They have won three and lost two but the good thing is that they are coming in with a good victory against Telugu Titans whom they beat 43-24. It promises to be a great contest.

Team News

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

Puneri Paltan

Raiders: Aslam Inamdar, Mohit Goyat, Pankaj Mohite, Akash Shinde, Shubham Shelke, Aditya Shinde

Defenders: Sanket Sawant, Fazel Atrachali (overseas player), Abinesh Nadarajan, Sombir, D Mahindra Prasad, Badal Singh, Alankar Patil, Rakesh Ram, Harsh Lad

Head-to-Head

UP Yoddhas and Puneri Paltan have clashed in eight matches in the PKL. The Yoddhas lead the head-to-head contest with eight wins, while the Paltans have won three.

Player to watch

Pardeep Narwal is back to his best. He is definitely the player to watch out for the Yoddhas. Pardeep is currently placed ninth in the raiders list with 77 raid points from eight games. He is looking fitter and is more active on the mat. So UP Yoddhas will bank on him against Puneri Paltan.

For the Paltans Fazel Atrachali will be key. Unlike last season he is in fine form this season with 22 tackle points from seven games. Surinder Gill and Pardeep both would be wary of him.

Key to success

For the Yoddhas it's simple, if Pardeep and Gill fire, they have a chance to win the game. They have not found the third raider and that has sometimes hindered them. But their good defence has somewhat compensated for that in a couple of games.

Aslam Inamdar's injury means that the Paltan are without their main raider. So the likes of Mohit Goyat has to step up. Akash Shinde put his hand up against the defending champions and helped his team win the game. Pune's defence has been good so far so they won't be bothered too much about that.

Did you know?

Fazel Athrachali had recently crossed the 400 tackle points mark. He is the second most successful defender in the history of PKL.

Broadcast – PKL 9

Time – 09:30 PM

Streaming – Star Sports / Disney + Hotstar