Coming for revenge: Gujarat Giants’ Mohammadreza Shadloui warns U Mumba

Gujarat Giants returned to winning ways, registering their second victory in PKL 12 after overcoming UP Yoddhas in a hard-fought contest to prevail by a scoreline of 33-27 at the SDAT Multi Purpose Indoor Stadium in the opening game of the Chennai leg on Monday.

Mohammadreza Shadloui showed why he’s regarded as one of the best in the business with eight points on the night, including four touch points and four tackle points. Reflecting on the win, the all-rounder shared, “We changed our strategy and played very well today. Rakesh handled the raiding, while I wanted to put my focus on defence and handle defence. If we keep playing like this, we have more chances to win.”

Echoing those sentiments, head coach Jaivir Sharma added, “Some of the matches we’ve lost this season have been by a very close margin. So, we analysed those games and worked on the things where we were falling slightly short. The hard work paid off today.”

“Today’s victory has motivated the whole team. There is a lot of motivation in our team and our target is to win the remaining matches. We lost matches because of a few mistakes. Now, we have corrected those mistakes, and we will not let such a silly mistakes happen again.”

Shadloui also thanked the fans in Chennai for the support, while looking forward to Gujarat Giants’ next challenge against U Mumba on Thursday (October 2nd).

“Thank you to the fans who supported me. Tonight was a good night for us but I am not happy yet. We should focus on the next match to try and get a win. In the last game, I made a mistake. I accept it. But this time is different. We will show them”, he reckoned.

Shedding some light on his rivalry with the U Mumba captain Sunil Kumar, Shadloui concluded, “Sunil is a good captain and a good player. In the last match, that was the first time I was playing the tie-breaker, but this match is going to be different. I am coming for revenge.”

Please find below the previews for the PKL Season 12 matches on Tuesday, September 30:

Having registered back-to-back wins in the Jaipur leg, Telugu Titans will be expecting to carry that momentum forward in Chennai. Their opening game will be against a Patna Pirates side that are yet to find their best form this season. While the Titans will want to register a win to rise from the mid-table scrap, Patna Pirates will be hoping that they can start racking up some wins to stay in the hunt for the knockouts.

The second match of the day has all the makings of an enthralling game as Devank Dalal’s Bengal Warriorz take on Aslam Inamdar’s Puneri Paltan. While the former has been leading the way in terms of raiding, the latter is known for his team’s defensive prowess. As a result, one can expect some fireworks as two heavyweights clash in this mouthwatering encounter.

Tickets are available on District by Zomato, the official ticketing platform for PKL Season 12: https://www.district.in/events/pkl-2025-chennai-team

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The Pro Kabaddi League Season 12 is being broadcast live on the Star Sports Network and streamed on JioHotstar from 7:30 pm onwards.