PKL 9: Tamil Thalaivas to clash with Haryana Steelers

Tamil Thalaivas will be playing UP Yoddhas in the eliminator.

Tamil Thalaivas are in a four-match unbeaten streak and confirmed their qualification into the playoffs after defeating UP Yoddhas comprehensively in the last encounter of PKL season 9. Arpit Saroha in the left corner scored a high 5 and has been playing well in the absence of captain Sagar.

Haryana Steelers on the other hand exited the PKL season 9 after Dabang Delhi KC tied their match against Bengal Warriors. However, Steelers put in a strong performance against Telugu Titans defeating them by a 17-point margin (50-33).

Team News

Tamil Thalaivas

Raiders: 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

Haryana Steelers Squad

Raiders: Prapanjan, Rakesh Narwal, Manjeet, Vinay, Mohammad Mahalli, Lovepreet Singh, Sushil, Meetu, Manish Gulia.

Defenders: Joginder Narwal, Jaideep, Mohit, Ankit, Monu, Naveen, Harsh, Sunny, Amirhossein Bastami.

All-Rounder: Nitin Rawal

Head to Head

Tamil Thalaivas and Haryana Steelers have faced each other eight times in the Pro Kabaddi League out of which, Haryana Steelers has won three matches whereas Tamil Thalaivas has come out victorious on two occasions with three matches ending in a tie.

Player to watch

Tamil Thalaivas will be playing UP Yoddhas in the eliminator and the squad needs to start building up to that encounter. Arpit Saroha will be the player to watch out for as he is the least experienced and the likes of Pardeep Narwal and Rohit Tomar will be looking for points through the left flank. Saroha needs to build up for the eliminator putting in a strong performance against Haryana Steelers.

Lovepreet Singh had a decent outing against Telugu Titans in the last encounter scoring seven points. Manpreet Singh tried out a few players through substitutions and Lovepreet performed well in the limited time. He shall look to perform in a similar fashion against a strong Tamil Thalaivas side.

Key to Success

Tamil Thailavas will be fielding their B side having already qualified for the playoffs and they have nothing to lose as well since their position in the points table will not be affected even if they win or lose. As mentioned earlier Arpit Saroha and a few others need to perform well. 

Rakesh Narwal scored a super 10 in the last encounter in the absence of their lead raider Manjeet Dahiya and Meetu. Rakesh needs to show consistency against Tamil Thalaiavas who are a much stronger side than Telugu Titans. Also, Rakesh along with Vinay will be leading the raiding department if Manjeet and Meetu are rested.

Did you know

Narender Kandola surpassed Ajay Thakur’s (215) record of scoring the most number of raid points in a single season for Tamil Thalaivas in the Pro Kabaddi League. 

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