With two wins from as many matches, a high-flying Patna Pirates squad will take on home team Telugu Titans for match number 15 of the Pro Kabaddi 2016 Season 4 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad following the conclusion of the kabaddi matches of the Jaipur leg. The Pirates seemed to have carried forward their form which they procured in season 3 and have gelled well under new skipper Dharmaraj Cheralathan.
Telugu Titans campaign has been quite contrary to Patna’s and they have ended up on the losing side in both their games till date. The Titans will be looking for some form going into the middle stages of the competition, but a major obstacle they will have to cross is the Patna outfit.
With Manpreet Singh, Patna’s victorious captain in Season 3 and Sandeep Narwal missing from action for the Pirates, Dharmaraj Cheralathan has been an impressive captain and has led his men around very cleverly in the two matches thus far. The Titans will have to win the match against the Pirates to make a move on in the tournament.
Telugu Titans performance so far
Rahul Chaudhari and Sukesh Hegde, both were retained ahead of the season and are yet to perform up to their full potential while Sandeep Narwal has been the only star amongst the Titans ranks.
In the first match against the Manjeet Chhillar led Puneri Paltans, Sukesh Hegde was in woeful form, unable to score a single point throughout the whole game. After a subtle hand touch and a two-point raid, even Rahul was subdued in his attempts and could score just a single point in the second half. Vinoth Kumar was fast, but ineffective. Sandeep Narwal was the major contributor with quick tackles and a few raid points but without support, he could not take the Titans over the finish line.
Against the Pink Panthers, the Titans were dealt a blow as Rahul did not feature in the starting seven. Yet again Sukesh Hegde could not open his account while Vinoth Kumar and NIleshNileshke were impressive at certain points. Sandeep Narwal continued his good form but could not stop the Titans from losing courtesy some stunning raiding skills showcased by all-rounder Rajesh Narwal.
Patna Pirates performance so far
The Pirates are in such good form to prove a testament to the fact that even a thorough SWOT analysis cannot bring out much fault in their methods. Since the third season, the team has been in some awesome form which is rubbing on them this year as well. Pardeep Narwal has bamboozled through the opponents with ridiculous ease which has not forced any other raiders to take any unnecessary risks and lose out on points. Raider Surjeet Singh was at his best against the Paltans, scoring seven points to his name.
Such is the calibre of Pardeep Narwal that he has scored a total of 25 points from two matches, including 18 in just one game against U-Mumba while the next highest is Rajesh Mondal with a considerably negligible tally of two points. The two pillars of the defence, Dharmaraj Cheralathan and Bajirao Hodage have gone about their role perfectly, which has helped Patna considerably.
Match Prediction
When the defending champions take on the wounded Titans on matchday, the biggest battle to witness will be Sandeep Narwal vs Patna Pirates. Having played an integral part in Patna’s title victory last year, Sandeep’s input to the Telugu Titans will be key for upstaging the high-flying Pirates.
Apart from raiding and defending, Sandeep Narwal has developed the knack to shepherd the team in the absence of captain Rahul Chaudhari. With all these versatile arrows in his quiver, it makes him the X-factor for this game. Sukesh Hegde will be looking to get his tally started and will be the man to look out for.
Pardeep Narwal is no doubt the in-form player for the Pirates and he will be the X-factor from their side. If the Titans do not find a way to stop the youngster, it could prove to be very costly in the end. Dharmaraj Cheralathan has also been in some stunning form and going through him will be a tough task for the Titans raiders.
Considering the form of both teams, the Pirates might just get the better of the Telugu Titans. However, the Titans have some quality in their squad and are capable of delivering Patna their first loss of their campaign.
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.
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.
Patna Pirates vs Telugu Titans Live Match Information
Date: 03/07/2016
Time: 20:00 IST
Venue: Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad.
TV Channels: Star Sports 2/Star Sports 2 HD (English), Star Sports 3/Star Sports 3 HD (Hindi)
Live stream: http://www.starsports.com
