PKL 9 Day 1 live updates: UP Yoddha vs Jaipur Pink Panthers

07:30 Hello and welcome to Khel Now's live updates of Day of Pro Kabaddi League Season 9.

Dabang Delhi vs U Mumba

Defending champions of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Dabang Delhi K.C. will be up against season 2 champions U Mumba in the first match of the much-awaited season 9 of the Pro Kabaddi League which is set to start from 7th October in Bengaluru. Delhi will have a new captain in the form of young raider Naveen Kumar while Mumba will be led by defender Surinder Singh. Both sides would be looking to start the tournament on a winning note on the opening day of PKL 9.

Head to head: Dabang Delhi vs U Mumba

Dabang Delhi will start favourites despite their poor head to head record against U Mumba. In previous 18 encounters between the two sides Mumba has won 12 games while Delhi has won just 5 games. 1 game ended in a tie. 

Bengaluru Bulls vs Telugu Titans

Day 1 of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 9 promises to be an exciting one as Bengaluru Bulls will take on Telugu Titans in match 2 of the day. It’s going to be a game of two defenses as the likes of Mahendra Singh, Mayur Kadam, Surjeet Singh and Ravinder Pahal will be in action. Titans didn’t have the best of seasons last time around so they would be hoping for a big turnaround under the leadership of Ravinder Singh in the new season while the Bulls will be without Pawan Sehrawat who has moved to Tamil Thailavas. The season 6 champions will have high hopes for Vikas Kandola who is expected to perform the same role as Pawan had done in previous seasons.

Head-to-head record

Both the sides have faced each other 19 times in PKL. The Bengaluru Bulls have won 13 games while the Titans have won just 3 games. 4 games have ended in a tie.

Players to watch out for

For the Bengaluru Bulls it will be Vikas Kandola who would be expected to lead the raiding department while for the Titans all eyes will be on Abhishek Singh who had a fantastic season with U Mumba earlier this year in season 8.

UP Yoddha vs Jaipur Pink Panthers

All eyes will be on Rahul Chaudhari and Pardeep Narwal.

Jaipur Pink Panthers finished outside the playoffs spot in the last two seasons in PKL seasons 7 and 8 finishing 7th and 8th respectively. The inaugural champions will look to start on a bright note in PKL 9 against UP Yoddha who are coming into season 9 with good form qualifying for the playoffs in the previous two seasons.

Head to Head

After UP Yoddhas’s induction to the league in season 5, both teams have played 7 times with UP Yoddha leading 4-3. In PKL 8 the teams met twice with Jaipur winning the first encounter ad UP winning the second.

Player to watch

Pardeep Narwal shall be the player to watch out for after showing glimpses of form in the latter stages of PKL season 8. He played in both the Senior Nationals and the National Games representing Haryana and performed well. With Surender Gill and Nitesh Tomar in the UP squad, Pardeep can play freely without much pressure.