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With the Pro Kabaddi League caravan shifting to the Maratha city of Pune, the first match will feature the home side, Puneri Paltan clashing against the table toppers Gujarat Fortunegiants at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex.
Both the teams have qualified for the all-important playoffs and will be looking to play for a win in order to boost their confidence prior to the crunch games. The teams might also test their bench strength given the injuries that haunt many squads towards the fag end of the tournament.
Catch all the LIVE updates from the Punri Paltan vs Gujarat Fortunegiant, here
The head-to-head stands in favour of the Gujarat Fortunegiants for they claimed the first blood when the teams clashed earlier in the league with a 35-21 win.
Puneri Paltan are coming into this match on the back of a big win against the Jaipur Pink Panthers while the Fortunegiants defeated the mighty defending champions, Patna Pirates in the last match.
Puneri Paltan will be led by skipper Deepak Hooda who is an all-rounder but has the greater responsibility of spearheading the attack of the side. He is assisted by the likes of Rajesh Mondal and young all-rounder Monu. The defence of the team will be manned by Sandeep Narwal in one corner with Girish Ernak manning the other end on the mat. Ziaur Rehman and Ravi Kumar, who was particularly stellar in the last match with his tackles will operate in the cover position for the team.
Gujarat Fortunegiants have been putting up a great show despite the absence of their regular skipper, Sukesh Hegde who has been out due to injury concerns. The raid department is taken care of by the trio of Chandran Ranjit, Sachin and Rohit Gulia/ Mahendra Rajput. The defence is the real stronghold of the side with the two Iranian power-houses, Fazel Atrachali and Abozar Mighani manning each end on the mat while the young Indian duo of Parvesh Bhainswal and Sunil Kumar have been exceptional in the cover position with their mighty tackles.
Puneri Paltan vs Gujarat Fortunegiants match prediction
With both teams in prime form, the match is surely set to go down to the wire and it will be the team with the better defence that will ultimately outclass the other. Thus, one can say that the Gujarat Fortunegiants given their successful tackle rate have an edge over Puneri Paltan and might even just edge out the former in tonight's encounter as well.
