Pardeep Narwal (UPY) in action (Courtesy: UP Yoddhas)
UP Yoddhas is gearing up for redemption in their reverse fixture against Patna Pirates tomorrow in Match 79 of Pro Kabaddi League Season 10, which will be played here at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium on Friday. The Pirates got the better of the Yoddhas 41-48 when the two teams faced each other on New Year’s Day in Noida. The Yoddhas will hope to bring their season back on track after losing five straight games against the Pirates who are also winless in their last four games.
UP Yoddhas went down to Bengal Warriors 37-42 in their previous game and are currently eleventh in the league standings with 22 points and the score difference of -34. On the other hand, Patna Pirates suffered a big loss to Tamil Thalaivas in their previous match and are currently placed eighth in the points table with zero score difference.
Across all seasons of PKL, both teams have faced each other 14 times. In which, the Yoddhas have emerged on the top on five occasions, with eight games going in the Pirates’ way, and one tie.
Speaking before the match, UP Yoddhas Head Coach Jasvir Singh said, “This will be a very important game for us with the playoffs in sight. The boys are giving their 100% in the training to get our campaign back on track. We missed out on victory against Patna before, but we will give our best tomorrow to turn the result to our side.”
The Yoddhas have missed the services of raider Surender Gill in the last few matches which has increased the responsibility on Pardeep Narwal, who currently has 106 raid points to score the bulk of the points in raiding.
The defense has been performing consistently throughout the tournament. Both the corners, Sumit and Nitesh Kumar have made lives difficult for the opposition raiders, earning 44 and 34 tackle points respectively. They have been well-assisted by the cover-defender Gurdeep who has 28 tackle points to his name so far. All-rounder Vijay Mallik has stepped up on important occasions in both the departments, and scored 46 total points in this season.
The Patna Pirates’ attack is led by their star raider Sachin who has earned 119 raiding points so far. He is well-assisted by the raiding pair of Manjeet and Sudhakar M have been in good touch throughout the tournament, earning 76 and 75 raiding points respectively. Krishan and Ankit have been the highlight in defense for the Pirates, earning 37 and 36 tackle points respectively.
