PKL 9: Gujarat Giants and Puneri Paltan to clash in Match 18

Ram Mehar Singh coached side will be itching to get their first win of the season.

Gujarat Giants and Puneri Paltan will both be looking for their first win of the season in Match 18 of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 9. Both teams had had forgettable seasons up to this point. However, Giants and Paltan will be looking to up the ante and earn their first victory of the season.

Team News

Gujarat Giants

Raiders: Chandran Ranjit, Pardeep Kumar, Rakesh, Dong Geon Lee, Mahendra Ganesh Rajput, Purna Singh, Sawin, Gaurav Chhikara, Parteek Dhaiya, Sohit, Sonu, Sonu Singh

Defenders: Baldev Singh, Kapil, Manuj, Ujjval Singh, Sourav Gulia, Vinod Kumar, YoungChang Ko, Rinku Narwal, Sandeep Kandola

All-Rounders: Arkam Shaikh, Shankar Bhimraj Gadai, Rohan Singh

Puneri Paltan

Raiders: Aslam Mustafa Inamdar, Mohit Goyat, Aditya Tushar Shinde, Akash Santosh Shinde, Pankaj Mohite, Shubham Nitin Shelke

Defenders: Fazel Atrachali, Sombir, Badal Taqdir Singh, Abinesh Nadarajan, Sanket Sawant, Alankar Kaluram Patil, Balasaheb Shahaji Jadhav, Rakesh Bhalle Ram, D Mahindraprasad, Harsh Mahesh Lad

All-Rounders: Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh, Govind Gurjar

Head to head

Gujarat Giants and Puneri Paltan have met in ten Pro Kabaddi matches. Gujarat Giants have won six of these ten games, while Puneri Paltan has won three times. One match ended in a tie.

Players to watch out

For Puneri Paltan to succeed it will be up to Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat how they perform. Rakesh, on the other hand, has led the raiders' charge for the Gujarat Giants. The Giants will hope that he fires all guns blazing.

Key to success

While both teams are yet to register their first wins of the season, Puneri Paltan has played close games while the Giants were taken to the cleaners by the defending champions in their last game. If Puneri Paltan play to their potential in both the defence and the raiding department and does not make mistakes in crucial moments of the game they will surely be able to get their first win of the tournament.

For the Giants on the other hand it is imperative that their defence comes together as a unit and has a good outing. Otherwise, the team would be too reliant on its raiding unit which won't be ideal.

Did you know

Rinku Narwal and Baldev Singh were integral parts of the Bengal Warriors in the past but both of them didn't get much game time in the last season of the tournament.

Broadcast - PKL 9

Time: 09:30 PM

Streaming: Star Sports / Disney + Hotstar