Following a highly successful Mumbai leg of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi Season 4, the action now shifts to Jaipur where inaugural champions Jaipur Pink Panthers, who are owned by Bollywood superstar Abhishek Bachchan will be taking on the Telugu Titans at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur. With a tally of 173 raid points and 97 successful tackles, the Mumbai leg showcased some of India’s best in business, with the Puneri Paltan leading at the top of the table.
As the bandwagon moves to Jaipur, the Pink Panthers, who lost their initial bout to the U-Mumba will look to bounce back against the men in yellow from Hyderabad, who started off their campaign with a loss against their name.
Jaipur Pink Panthers performance so far
Squaring off against U-Mumba for their first match buoyed by the support of big names from the Bollywood industry, the Panthers made heavy weather of their opening game. Finding it tough to score in the initial few minutes, the Panthers squandered an early lead to U-Mumba, with both Anup Kumar and Rakesh Kumar scoring easy points.
Scoring their first point through a flawless tackle on Rishank Devadiga, the point didn’t seem to energise the Jaipur outfit which saw them gifting Rakesh Kumar two points in a single raid added to the woe of a technical error point courtesy Tushar Patil. Lone man Ajay Kumar, who came in as a substitute for Amit Hooda acted as the saving grace for Jaipur and scored two points to reduce the lead.
Also read: Pro Kabaddi 2016, Season 4 : Team of the Pune Leg
Five minutes into the break, Mumbai inflicted an all-out which seemed to enrage Jasvir Singh as he came into his element to take out three U-Mumba defenders in a single raid, but was at the receiving end soon as he was sent back to the bench courtesy a fantastic super tackle.
Into the second half, former U-Mumba player Shabeer Bapu made life difficult for U-Mumba as he wiped out all their defenders twice under five minutes to get the lead back to the Pink Panthers. However, U-Mumba's perseverance gained them some rapid points which made sure the lead did not go out of hand and won the game in the end by capturing Jasvir in the dying moments of the contest.
Telugu Titans performance so far
Facing a strong Puneri Paltan outfit shepherded by Manjeet Chhillar, the Titans had to be at the top of their initial contest. The Titans were dealt their first blow, as star raider Rahul Chaudhari was sent to the bench early and was soon followed by Sukesh Hegde.
Trading blow for blow, Pune and Telugu were both neck to neck going into the break. Falling to an all-out courtesy Ajay Thakur’s brilliance, the Titans saw themselves in a precarious position but were rescued by the duo of Rahul and Vinod, who also turned out to be the Titans best defender on the day.
Deepak Hooda turned out to be the bunny for the Titans and was tackled consecutively in the first half which shifted some momentum towards the Titans into the second half with a lead of 13-15 in favour of the Titans.
Right into the second half, new import Sandeep Narwal tried to preserve the impetus, but some childish errors from his team-mates saw the Paltan inflict another all-out, from where the Titans could never make a comeback and went on to suffer their first loss in the tournament.
Match Prediction
With a loss under their belt, both the Pink Panthers and the Telugu Titans will look to register a win and get their campaigns back on track. The Panthers will be bolstered by the fact that they will be playing at their home ground, while the Titans will have to be wary of the support.
With the experience and popularity, Rahul Chaudhari will no doubt be the X-factor for this contest. Against corners Ran Singh and Amit Hooda, Rahul will need to be at the pinnacle of his game to blend well with escape artist Sukesh Hegde and score raid points.
Sandeep Narwal will be the player to watch out for from the Telugu Titans. With his thunderous tackles and swift raids, Sandeep has created a massive name for himself in the Pro Kabaddi League as one of the best all-rounders. The 23-year old will be a decisive factor to stop the Panthers raiders from carrying about their merry ways.
Jasvir Singh, who had a mixed bag of success against U-Mumba will be the key for the Pink Panthers. Against a defence led by Sandeep Narwal, the skipper will have to play a major role to ensure his team does not fall behind.
Shabeer Bapu, who had a fantastic game against U-Mumba will yet again be the X-factor and will need to bring all his experience to the mat once the whistle is blown. Retained all-rounder Rajesh Narwal will have to combine with corner Ran Singh and produce immaculate tackles to stop the Titans raiders.
When it comes down to fancying a side, the Titans may just have a small advantage over the Panthers considering the overall team composition. The Titans are a young energetic bunch and will be looking to make a strong comeback, but will have to be vary of what Jaipur can present and the support which will be directed majorly towards the Panthers.
Squads
Jaipur Pink Panthers :
Raiders: Jasvir Singh (Captain), Shabeer Bapu, Ajay Kumar, Lo Chia Wei, Mahipal Narwal, Tushar Patil, Amit Nagar.
Defenders: Amit Hooda, Rohit Rana, Parveen Narwal, Jawahar.
All-Rounders: Ran Singh, Rajesh Narwal, Shrikant Tewthia, Kazuhiro Takano, Parvesh Bhainswal, Tae Deok Eom.
Telugu Titans :
Raiders: Rahul Chaudhari (Captain), Sukesh Hegde, Nilesh Salunke, K Prapanjan, Athul MS, Vinoth Kumar.
Defenders: Vinod, Sandeep Dhull, Shashank Wankhede, Sombir, Akhlaq Hussain.
All-Rounders: Sandeep Narwal, Jasmer Singh Gulia, Mohammad Maghsoudlou, Muhammad Rizwan, Rupesh Tomar, S Mahalingam, Sagar B Krishna, Vishal Bharadwaj.
Jaipur Pink Panthers vs Telugu Titans Live Match Information
Date: 29/06/2016
Time: 20:00 IST
TV Channels: Star Sports 2/Star Sports 2 HD (English), Star Sports 3/Star Sports 3 HD (Hindi)
Live stream: http://www.starsports.com
