Jaipur Pink Panthers, Gujarat Giants look to maintain winning momentum

After a high-scoring night of triple panga on Friday, vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 9 has another triple delight in store for fans at the Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday. Jaipur Pink Panthers will face Gujarat Giants in the first match, while Telugu Titans take on Dabang Delhi K.C. in the second and Bengal Warriors square off against Patna Pirates in the last game of the night.

Here are our previews for Day 8.

Match 19: Jaipur Pink Panthers vs Gujarat Giants

Jaipur Pink Panthers will be confident after winning their last two matches and will be keen to register a third consecutive win. Their last game saw Arjun Deshwal bag a Super 10 while skipper Sunil Kumar scored eight tackle points. Deshwal will be the Panthers’ go-to man in attack once again and he’ll be eager to have a major impact on the upcoming contest. Rahul Chaudhari with seven points in the Panthers’ last match showed what he’s capable of and he along with V Ajith Kumar are expected to support Deshwal in attack. On the defensive side of things, the Season 1 champions will be hoping that skipper Sunil Kumar as well as Sahul Kumar, Abhishek KS and Ankush can have their say on the contest.

As far as Gujarat Giants go, they will be raring to return to the mat after notching up their first win of the campaign last night. Their main threat in attack will be Rakesh, who has been sensational this season and was his team’s top scorer in their last outing with 15 points. Captain Chandran Ranjit and all-rounder Parteek Dhaiya will be Rakesh’s supporting cast while raiding and they will hope to step up after underwhelming performances so far. On the defensive front, Sourav Gulia, who bagged a High 5 last night, will be a player to keep an eye on and all-rounders Arkam Shaikh and Shankar Gadai have also proven themselves while tackling, which is why opposition raiders can ignore their presence at their peril.

Jaipur Pink Panthers vs Gujarat Giants head-to-head

Jaipur Pink Panthers have faced Gujarat Giants 10 times with the former winning thrice and the latter emerging on top six times. There has also been one tie when these two teams have met in the past.

Match 20: Telugu Titans vs Dabang Delhi K.C.

After a win in their last game, Telugu Titans will be eager to make it back-to-back victories come Saturday. Their top raiders Monu Goyat and Vinay seem to be finding form and have so far scored 16 and 14 raid points respectively. They will need to be amongst the points against Dabang Delhi K.C. and hope that Siddharth Desai, who has scored 13 raid points this season can also come good. As far as defending is concerned, Vishal Bhardwaj with six tackle points has been their best defender in terms of scoring. The likes of Surjeet Singh and Parvesh Bhainswal have also contributed five tackle points each so far and could have big roles to play against the defending champions.

Dabang Delhi K.C., meanwhile, will be brimming with confidence having won all their three matches so far. Their talisman Naveen Kumar has spearheaded their attack with aplomb, accumulating 41 raid points already while bagging three Super 10s. It’s worth mentioning that he’s been well supported by raider Manjeet, who has 19 raid points to his name this season. Manjeet, in fact, played a big role in their last game while Naveen was off the mat as the defending champions rescued a victory from the jaws of defeat. Ashu Malik, who has scored 13 raid points, is another player who can make his presence felt in attack for Dabang Delhi K.C.. Krishan, who has 14 tackle points already, has been their go-to man in defence, while Vishal with 11 tackle points is another tackler who the Titans’ raiders will need to be wary of.

Telugu Titans vs Dabang Delhi K.C. head-to-head

Telugu Titans have met Dabang Delhi K.C. 14 times. The Titans have won eight times and the defending champions have been victorious on five occasions. There has also been a tie between these teams in the past.

Match 21: Bengal Warriors vs Patna Pirates

After a loss in their season opener, Bengal Warriors secured back-to-back wins to get their campaign up and running. A well balanced team with plenty of players contributing, the Season 7 champions look poised to have another strong campaign. Their captain Maninder Singh has led by example having scored 29 raid points this season. He’s received good support from the likes of Shrikant Jadhav, Manoj Gowda and Deepak Hooda whenever he’s been off the mat. The aforementioned trio, in fact, have combined for 37 raid points this season. On the defensive side of things, Girish Maruti Ernak has been their main man with a total of 14 tackle points in just three matches. Vaibhav Garje and Shubham Shinde have been their next best defenders with six and five tackle points respectively.

Patna Pirates, on the other hand, are yet to win a match this season and will be keen to register their first win of the campaign on Saturday. For that to happen, the three-time champions will need Sachin and all-rounder Rohit Gulia to be more clinical in attack. The duo have notched up 22 raid points each this season but haven’t had backup with their next best contributor being Vishwas S with seven raid points. Like their attack, the Pirates’ defence can also do much better as well. Sunil’s nine tackle points make him Patna Pirates’ best performing defender so far and needless to say, they will be expecting a whole lot more from players like Neeraj Kumar, Sajin C and Thiyagarajan Yuvaraj on that front.

Bengal Warriors vs Patna Pirates head-to-head

Patna Pirates are the more dominant team in the head-to-head with Bengal Warriors. The three-time champions have won 12 of the 19 clashes between these teams. Bengal Warriors have won only four times, while there have also been three ties.

vivo PKL Schedule for October 15, Saturday 7:30 PM onwards

Match 19: Jaipur Pink Panthers vs Gujarat Giants

Match 20: Telugu Titans vs Dabang Delhi K.C.

Match 21: Bengal Warriors vs Patna Pirates

Where to watch vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 9 LIVE?

Catch all the LIVE action from vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 9 on the Star Sports Network and LIVE streaming on Disney+Hotstar.