Jaipur Pink Panthers look to extend lead at top with a win over U.P. Yoddha

League leaders Jaipur Pink Panthers head south to take on U.P. Yoddha at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium on Monday in the first of their two matches scheduled during the Chennai leg. They currently lead the standings by a solitary point and will look to extend their lead at the top to six before their match against Tamil Thalaivas on Wednesday.       

Match 50: U.P. Yoddha vs. Jaipur Pink Panthers

Head-to-head: Jaipur Pink Panthers 2-1 U.P. Yoddha

U.P. Yoddha

Form Guide

Played: 8

Won: 2

Tied: 2

Lost: 4

Win Rate: 25%

Best Raider: Monu Goyat

Best Defender: Sumit

U.P. Yoddha have had an inconsistent start to their season having won just two of their eight matches so far. Their star raiding trio of Rishank Devadiga, Monu Goyat and Shrikant Jadhav have only performed in patches and are yet to find consistency as a unit. In defence, Left Corner Sumit has been a revelation and currently leads the team in tackle points with 26, which is also the joint third-highest tally in the league. Captain Nitesh Kumar has also had decent campaign so far, but his tackle strike rate of 48.64% is something that the Right Corner will look to address in the upcoming matches. U.P. Yoddha currently sit six points off the final playoffs spot and while they’ve played just over a third of their matches, they will want to stay as close as possible to those top six spots and not fall too far behind and find themselves in a difficult position towards the latter stages of the campaign.

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Form Guide

Played: 7

Won: 6

Tied: 0

Lost: 1

Win Rate: 85.71%

Best Raider: Deepak Niwas Hooda

Best Defender: Sandeep Dhull

Jaipur Pink Panthers have been one of the – if not the – most consistent side in VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 7 and currently sit atop of the standings with one point more than Dabang Delhi K.C. In Deepak Niwas Hooda and Sandeep Dhull, Jaipur Pink Panthers have two of the most in-form players in the league leading their offence and defence, respectively. Hooda ranks fifth in the league in average raid points per game (7.86), while Dhull leads the league in tackle points (30). Apart from these two stalwarts, players like Nitin Rawal, Amit Hooda and Deepak Narwal have also made timely contributions to Jaipur Pink Panthers’ success so far. The league leaders have been denied a win just once this season and another victory on Monday will see them set the franchise record for their best start to a VIVO Pro Kabaddi campaign, surpassing the current record all the way back from Season 1.