Gujarat Fortunegiants visit Jaipur Pink Panthers coming off a hat-trick of wins

With six wins in their previous seven games, Gujarat Fortunegiants head to Panchkula to build on that success when they take on Jaipur Pink Panthers at the Tau Devilal Sports Complex. A victory for Gujarat Fortunegiants will see them close the gap on the top spot in Zone A to just two points with an additional game in hand.

The two teams last faced off in Greater Noida where Gujarat Fortunegiants captain Sunil Kumar delivered an eight-tackle-point performance to help his team beat Jaipur Pink Panthers by a scoreline of 36-25.

Match 116 (Zone A): Jaipur Pink Panthers vs. Gujarat Fortunegiants

Head-to-head: Gujarat Fortunegiants 3-1 Jaipur Pink Panthers

Form Guide:

Stats from the last five matches –

Average Points Scored – 33.8

Average Points Conceded – 33.2

Best Raider – Deepak Niwas Hooda

Best Defender – Sunil Siddhgavali

Stats from the last five matches –

Average Points Scored – 36.4

Average Points Conceded – 28.8

Best Raider - Sachin

Best Defender – Parvesh Bhainswal

The big battle –

Deepak Niwas Hooda vs. Parvesh Bhainswal

Deepak Niwas Hooda’s incredible form has seen him score 57 raid points in his last five appearances, averaging a mammoth 11.40 raid points per game, making him one of the league’s most in-form players. The raider has amassed 152 raid points this campaign and, with five games left in the league stage, the possibility of a first-ever 200-raid-point season looms large for the mercurial raider. Hooda holds the key for his team’s offence, indicated by the fact that his tally of raid points is a 108 more than Jaipur Pink Panthers’ next best raider.

Parvesh Bhainswal has emerged as one of the league’s premier Cover defenders in Season 6 and is currently involved in a battle for the Best Defender award with U Mumba’s Fazel Atrachali and U.P. Yoddha’s Nitesh Kumar. Bhainswal’s 71 tackle points in 19 appearances see him third in the list of defenders with the most tackle points this season and his average of 3.74 tackle points per match ranks second-best in the league. However, his tackle strike rate of 67.61 is the best in VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 6 among all players with over 20 tackle points. Prolific as well as efficient, Bhainswal has enjoyed a magnificent campaign and will aim to continue in the same vein for the rest of the season.

In their nine duels so far, Hooda has got the better of Bhainswal on seven occasions while the Left Cover has managed to tackle the raider twice. An intriguing battle between two of the league’s most in-form players, this duel is certain to take centre stage when Jaipur Pink Panthers and Gujarat Fortunegiants battle on Sunday.

Key Khiladi -

Sunil Siddhgavali – Jaipur Pink Panthers

Sunil Siddhgavali’s performances in defence have been outstanding in his past few outings, especially against Puneri Paltan, where he scored 8 tackle points in 10 attempts. In his last three matches, Siddhgavali has scored 13 tackle points and, given how potent Gujarat Fortunegiants’ offence has been in their last few matches, Jaipur Pink Panthers will be hoping for another big performance from Siddhgavali.

K Prapanjan – Gujarat Fortunegiants

After a quiet campaign at the start of the season, raider K Prapanjan has burst into life in the closing phase of the league stage. Prapanjan has scored 30 raid points in his last three appearances, including two Super 10s; the most by a Gujarat Fortunegiants player in that period. With Sachin carrying the offence as the team’s lead raider, Prapanjan’s form adds variety and some much-needed firepower to his team’s raiding department as they head into the final few matches before the Playoffs.