PKL 11: Key battles to watch out for in match 28, U Mumba vs Jaipur Pink Panthers

Jaipur Pink Panthers would like to return to winning ways.

After a dominant beginning to Pro Kabaddi League season 11 (PKL 11), the Jaipur Pink Panthers experienced a couple of bumps down the road. It all started with the Pink Panthers’ captain Arjun Deshwal getting injured in his first raid against the Haryana Steelers and staying off-court for more than a half due to that injury.

In the absence of Deshwal, the Pink Panthers lost by 37-25. In the next PKL 11 match, they faced the mighty Tamil Thalaivas and played a draw against them (30-30). A defeat and a tie have now taken them to the 4th position on the PKL 11 table.

On 31st October, they will face U Mumba, who is also coming in after playing a tie against Bengal Warriorz (31-31). U Mumba has had a mixed PKL 11 season, winning one match, losing one, and tied one.

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However, they will be happy that they have consistently improved their performance. However, there are still various parts of the game that they want to improve as a team. U Mumba’s raiding department hasn’t worked to the mark yet but their defence has done a decent job in the first 3 games of PKL 11.

The upcoming PKL 11 game for the Jaipur Pink Panthers and U Mumba is going to be a crucial one where both teams would want to get back to their winning streak. For that to happen, there are a few battles that we must keep an eye on. Whichever team’s player wins 2 of these three battles will most probably be the dominating team on the day.

Arjun Deshwal vs Sombir

Jaipur Pink Panthers’ power decreases to half in the absence of their captain, as we saw against the Steelers. He will be the key to their win and if Sombir and other defenders can put him off-court for maximum time, it will be their key to victory.

Arjun Deshwal has scored 44 points in 4 matches, including the PKL 11 match in which he stayed off-court for most of the match because of injury. If he can find back his rhythm, it is going to be difficult for the Mumba to content him.

Sombir has been the best defender for U Mumba in this season. Sombir has scored 9 tackle points in 3 matches with a tackle success rate of over 50%. He has been a great addition to U Mumba and had a good season 10 as well where he nearly scored 50 tackle points. He will be the key defender along with the captain Sunil Kumar. If they can keep Arjun Deshwal from scoring points, that might be half of the game in their favour.

Manjeet Dahiya vs Ankush Rathee

Manjeet has a brilliant record in the Pro Kabaddi League. He has scored more than 600 raid points in his PKL career and his experience will be much needed against the mighty Panthers. He had a quiet start to the PKL 11 but in the last match, we got to see a spark in his performance which he will want to take forward in the upcoming match.

It will be the responsibility of Jaipur Pink Panthers‘ compact defence to stop Manjeet and other raiders. Ankush Rathee has emerged to be one of the most important ones this PKL 11. The young defender has kept the opposition on their toe and has not done a clinical job yet.

Rathee has 10 tackle points under his name this season and will be a crucial aid in his team’s victory further in this tournament. If Rathee can keep Manjeet and Amirmohammad Zafardanesh away from points, U Mumba might get into trouble.

Amirmohammad Zafardanesh vs Abhijeet Malik

The battle of the all-rounders. This is going to be a great PKL 11 contest of all-rounders. Zafardanesh is the most important player when it comes to the all-round game for U Mumba. Zafardanesh has scored 17 raid and 5 tackle points in the PKL 11 and his contribution against the Pink Panthers will affect the result of the match.

Against him in this battle is going to be Abhijeet Malik. The all-rounder from the Pink Panthers has been a surprise package for the opponents. When they came prepared for Deshwal, Vikash Kandola, or Shrikant Jadhav, Malik gave the Pink Panthers the crucial moments in the four matches they played. Malik has scored 23 points, including 18 raid and 5 tackle points in PKL 11. He certainly has been a true asset to the team. Although he had an off-day on the last match, he will be hoping to make a better comeback against U Mumba.

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