PVL 2023: Ahmedabad Defenders eye second successive win, newbies Mumbai Meteors hope to bounce back

Both teams have won just one match so far.

Ahmedabad Defenders will face off against Mumbai Meteors at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad after picking a big win over the Bengaluru Torpedoes almost a week ago at Prime Volleyball League 2023. On the other hand, Mumbai Meteors will be coming into the match after losing to the Torpedoes in their last game in Bengaluru.

But the big question in everyone's mind is if Ahmedabad Defenders will be ready for the encounter? The side led by captain Muthusamy Appavu has not been in action for over a week and there are questions being asked if this may hinder their preparedness.

But youngster Harsh Chaudhary believes that the time given could be an advantage as they have been able to work on their mistakes. "We have been training hard and everyday we have been talking about the errors we made in our first two games. So, I see the gap as a positive as it allowed us to work on those mistakes and fix our game."

All eyes will be on Mumbai's captain

On the other hand, Mumbai Meteors' skipper Karthik insisted that his side has no pressure going into the match despite them losing their previous match to the Torpedoes at Prime Volleyball League 2023.

"There is no pressure going into the match. We have got a lot of confidence after our win against Chennai. And our match against Bengaluru was a close one. We have prepared ourselves well to take on Ahmedabad and we will enter the contest to get the win," he said.

Harsh believes that Ahmedabad have kept the core of the squad together this season as well, which may prove advantageous to Ahmedabad against Mumbai.

"We have great coordination among all of us and we all know each other well because we played together last year as well. Mumbai, too, have good coordination between their players, but we still know each other better and hence, we can make the most of that," Harsh said.

On being asked about the same, Karthik added: "Both the teams have quite experienced players, but in this format, experience counts a lot. In that case, our setters and libero are quite experienced. In Ahmedabad, they are playing with almost the same squad so that is an advantage for them. All the teams are from universities, so they have been together, so we are expecting a good fight."

Where to watch?

The RuPay Prime Volleyball League match 17 between Ahmedabad Defenders and Mumbai Meteors will be telecast LIVE on Sony Sports Ten 1 (English), Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi), Sony Sports Ten 4 (Tamil & Telugu) & Sony Sports Ten 2 (Malayalam) channels in India and will be streamed on Volleyball World TV outside the Indian subcontinent, starting February 4, Saturday.