The peerless Patna Pirates will take on the mediocre Dabang Delhi side at the Patliputra Sports complex on Saturday. The defending champions continue their splendid run in season 4 of the Pro Kabaddi League, and proving incredibly tough to beat in the current edition of Pro Kabaddi. The Pirates comfortably registered their fifth victory against the rusty Bengal Warriors on Friday and maintained their supremacy in both attack and defence.
The Dabangs from Delhi looks to get back to the winning ways after suffering a demolishing defeat at the hands of Jaipur Pink panthers, on Wednesday. The defeat by a huge margin put the Delhi team on the back foot, and the players need more uplift from the coaching staff, heading into today’s battle. The defence of Delhi that looked in shambles against the Pink Panthers, should stop the Pirates attacking force lead by Pardeep Narwal.
Match Prediction
The Pirates have been successful in front of the rapturous home crowd in both the matches. After the close encounter against the Bengaluru Bulls, the defending champions thrashed the Bengal Warriors by 35-21. Pardeep Narwal, who missed a super ten against the Bulls was fully charged against the Warriors. The 19-year-old has 54 raid points in 5 matches and looks more destructive than season 3. Unless Meraj Sheykh and Sachin Shingade come up with something extraordinary in the defence, it’s difficult to stop the star raider.
The Pirates skipper Dharmaraj Cheralathan came to the party against the Bengal warriors with 9 tackles points, the second highest in the Pro Kabaddi league. The experienced Cheralathan has saved the team, from an all-out, on more than two occasions. He kept Bengal’s attacking force of Nitin Madane and Monu Goyat quiet in yesterday’s encounter. No doubt, the in-form Cheralathan on the right corner, proves to be strong for the struggling Kashiling Adake and Selvamani.
The Dabangs have to pass many tests in order to overcome the successful team in season 4. The defence was at sixes and sevens in most of the games, and they were completely outclassed by the Jaipur attackers. The defence needs to come good against Pardeep Narwal and Rajesh Mondal after facing a lot of tussles on Wednesday ‘s one-sided contest.
Kashiling Adake’s performance in season 4 is a bitter pill to swallow for the Delhi fans. The 23-year old who scored more than 100 raid points in season 1 and 2 has just 18 points in the current season. The half-hearted raids by the Delhi Skipper haven't troubled the opposition defence so far. The all-round Meraj Sheykh prove to be really handy for the Dabangs in the crunch situations. The Iranian with his athletic raids and the solid defence looks to hand the first defeat for the defending champions on Saturday.
The Patna Pirates are maintaining a winning streak of 6 matches at their home ground and moreover, they have lost only once in the last 10 encounters at the Patliputra Sports complex.
The worst thing for Delhi heading into today’s battle is, they have defeated the Pirates only once in the six previous encounters and moreover they suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Pirates last time by a huge margin of 34-67.
Unless Delhi comes up with a strong headline performance, it’s just another walk in the park for the Pirates.
Squads
Patna Pirates
Raiders: Pardeep Narwal, Rajesh Mondal, Mahesh Goud, Surjeet Singh, Vinoth Paulyas, Sunny, Abolfazel Maghsodlo.
Defenders: Dharmaraj Cheralathan (Captain), Bajirao Hodage, Fazel Athrachali, Deepak Dhull, Sunil Kumar, Anil Kumar, Vijin Thangadurai.
All-Rounders: Hadi Oshtorak, Kuldeep Singh, Sanjay Kumar.
Dabang Delhi
Defenders: Ram Kumar Sah, Prashant Chavan, D.Gopu, D.Suresh Kumar, Sachin Shingade
All-rounders: Bhupender Singh, Meraj Sheykh, Hadi Tajik, Phonchoo Tin, Manjeet
Raiders: Kashiling Adake, Selvamani K, Prashant Kumar Rai, Deepak Narwal, Umesh Mhatre, Sanket Chavan, Vikash Khandola
Patna Pirates vs Dabang Delhi Live Match Information
Date: 09/07/2016
Time: 21:00 IST
Venue: Patliputra Sports Complex, Patna.
TV Channels: Star Sports 2/Star Sports 2 HD (English), Star Sports 3/Star Sports 3 HD (Hindi)
Live stream: http://www.starsports.com
