PKL5 Match 102 preview: Puneri Paltan v U.P. Yoddha

Date: 30th September
Time: 8PM IST (3:30PM BST)
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai
Zone: Interzonal A v B

Form

The first game of the night is an interzonal match between Puneri Paltan and U.P. Yoddha. Both teams are on winning form but who will carry on their streak in this match?

Puneri Paltan: WWWWL
U.P. Yoddha: WWLLD
(last 5 games most recent first, W = won, D = draw, L = lost)

Match Prediction

Puneri Paltan are starting to play to their potential after picking up 4 victories in a row now, largely thanks to the duo of Deepak Niwas Hooda and Sandeep Narwal. But not only that the defence is playing really well and rivals Gujarat and Haryana to being the best defence in the league. With back up raiders such as do or die specialist Rajesh Mondal and the youthful Monu, Pune have a very strong side and will look to make it 5 wins in a row.

U.P. Yoddha demolished Delhi last time around and they beat Patna the game before, but both games the opposition were at a disadvantage. Patna had already played 5 games in a row previous to their game against UP and Delhi had many defensive issues. This time they face a full strength in form Pune side who are playing very well. Nonetheless UP have a strong raiding unit and will trouble Pune.

Sandeep Narwal versus Nitin Tomar is going to be a great fight to watch, as is Girish Ernak up against Rishank Devadiga. The team that wins these battles will probably go on to win the match, the UP defence is youthful and can make mistakes, but they have done well recently. I think it will be a tight game, with UP edging it.

Prediction: Puneri Paltan 35-37 U.P. Yoddha

Players to watch

• For Puneri Paltan Deepak Niwas Hooda is a great raider to watch for young people trying to become better, he has 80 raid points in 13 matches.
• In defence Girish Ernak and Sandeep Narwal have been playing really well getting the tackles in, Sandeep Narwal has also picked up the odd raid point here and there as well.
• U.P. Yoddha’s raiders are great to watch, in particular Nitin Tomar who has been consistently great, picking up a lot of raid points, he has 140 raid points in 17 matches.

Team News and Predicted Line-ups

Puneri Paltan like to chop and change but Deepak Niwas Hooda and Rajesh Mondal are certain to lead the raiding lineup with Sandeep Narwal, Girish Ernak and Ziaur Rahman in defence. The final defensive position could go to Monu with the final raiding position to Ravi Kumar. I’m not sure where Dharmaraj Cheralathan is, but I assume he will be getting rested before their home leg, he’s old and may not be able to sustain his performance for every game this season.

 

U.P. Yoddha have kept the same lineup for the last two matches and will probably remain unchanged. However it is possible that if Pankaj is fit and ready he will come in for Rohit Kumar in the cover position.

Puneri Paltan: Ravi Kumar, Deepak Niwas Hooda (C), Sandeep Narwal, Girish Ernak, Monu, Ziaur Rahman (✈️), Rajesh Mondal.

U.P. Yoddha: Surender Singh, Nitesh Kumar, Sagar Krishna, Jeeva Kumar, Nitin Tomar (C), Rishank Devadiga, Rohit Kumar.

Dream11 Fantasy Picks

This new section is just my picks for the Dream11 fantasy game, if a player doesn’t do well then don’t hold me accountable because it is just an opinion! If you haven’t already check out my Dream11 Fantasy Kabaddi Tips first before reading below.

• Definite players to pick for this match are probably raider Nitin Tomar and Deepak Niwas Hooda, Deepak is actually listed as an all rounder in the game.
• In defence I’d consider picking at least two of either Girish Ernak, Nitesh Kumar and Jeeva Kumar.
• For the differential players you might want to consider Surender, Rajesh Mondal or Monu, Surender is a 3rd raider and will do well if Nitin and Rishank are struggling, Rajesh is capable of picking up super 10s and can be fantastic on his day, and Monu is on form raiding and defending.
• Deepak Niwas Hooda, Sandeep Narwal and Rishank Devadiga are all listed as all rounders and so you can only choose a maximum of 2, I’d recommend picking 2 all rounders, at least 2 raiders and 2/3 defenders.

 

I’d prefer to go with Deepak Niwas Hooda and Rishank Devadiga as my all rounders, simply because they raid a lot more and could easily outscore the defensive points Sandeep Narwal might make. Also in my team is Nitin Tomar, Rajesh Mondal and Monu as the raiders, and in defence I have Jeeva Kumar and Nitesh Kumar. My captain is Nitin Tomar and vice captain is Deepak Niwas Hooda.

Alternatively you can drop Nitesh Kumar for Ziaur Rahman or Ravi Kumar. You could also drop Rajesh Mondal for Surender Singh and then upgrade Jeeva Kumar to Girish Ernak but that’s up to you.

SPKabaddi’s seven: Nitin Tomar (C), Deepak Niwas Hooda (VC), Rishank Devadiga, Monu, Nitesh Kumar, Jeeva Kumar, Rajesh Mondal.