Good opportunity for Puneri Paltan to settle scores

Puneri Paltan from the land of their erstwhile rulers the Peshwas will take the battlefield against Jaipur Pink Panthers with the sole aim of beating their tormentors who have always beaten them with a lot to spare. Their match on Friday comes at a time when the Jaipur Pink Panthers are smarting under a heavy defeat at the hands of Bengal Warriors and their campaign this season with three losses in five outings hasn’t gone on expected lines.

The other match at the Shree Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sports Complex will be between Patna Pirates the only undefeated side against Dabang Delhi K. C., the side which has an all lost record and have a meagre two points, being the consolation for having lost two of the six matches by a margin of less than seven points. And to add to their worries which are piling up with every match the Delhi side will be without their five-star raider Kashiling Adake who will be making his international debut at the South Asian Games in Shillong.

Puneri Paltan, before this match against the team from Rajasthan will be playing Patna Pirates and irrespective of the result, they still have the personnel to beat their rivals in the absence of Deepak Hooda and Surjeet who are away at Shillong.

It’s becoming difficult for the Navneet Gautam side to marshal their scant resources in the absence of Jasvir Singh their lynchpin in attack. The Jaipur side depends heavily on Sonu Narwal and Rajesh Narwal in attack and the duo of Ran Singh and Rohit Rana in defence.

All that Puneri Paltan need to do is to study how the Bengal Warriors decimated them on Wednesday. The Jaipur side’s Kuldeep who had a good last season in defence with C Arun and Samarjeet who has got a look in are all lacking in confidence. Besides they haven’t posed any faith in Mohammad Maghsoudlou their Iranian import so far.

The Puneri Paltan has a stronger leader and player than Nilesh Shinde of Bengal Warriors in the towering Manjeet Chhillar and an astute coach in Ashok Shinde, both of them capable of plotting a perfect strategy. Once the home team negates the threat of the visitors’ attack their raiders should have a field day against the Jaipur Pink Panthers. Raiders Ajay Thakur and Yogesh Hooda must be eager to give their supporters a reason to celebrate.

Patna Pirates may not have asked for a better outing while they themselves are a little below strength. If they end beating the hosts in the opener then Dabang Delhi K. C. will be far easy prey for the Patna Pirates who will be keen on finishing their engagements in the first leg with an unbeaten record. Even then to finish with 30 points in case of a defeat in the opener against the hosts would strengthen not only their claims for the semis and but also send the message that they are strong contenders for the title.

Manpreet should be leading the side and with the help of the shy looking but efficient Pardeep Narwal, the king of the do-or-die raids Rajesh Mondal, defenders Sunil and Vinod Kumar should feast on this heaven sent opportunity to finish a down and out Dabang Delhi K. C.