Third place in sight for Haryana Steelers when they face Gujarat Fortunegiants

A hat-trick of wins is in the offing for Haryana Steelers when they battle Gujarat Fortunegiants at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex in Delhi on Wednesday. A win for Haryana Steelers will see them climb to third in the vivo Pro Kabaddi Season 7 standings, while victory for Gujarat Fortunegiants will see them enter the top six, provided the result in Match 63 goes in their favour. 

Match 62: Gujarat Fortunegiants vs. Haryana Steelers

Head-to-head: Gujarat Fortunegiants 2-3 Haryana Steelers. 1 tie.

Gujarat Fortunegiants

Played: 10

Won: 4

Tied: 0

Lost: 6

Win Rate: 40%

Best Raider: Rohit Gulia

Best Defender: Sunil Kumar

After six losses on the trot, Gujarat Fortunegiants finally tasted victory in their last outing against Patna Pirates which finished 29-26 in their favour. The Season 5 and 6 finalists lost just seven of their 44 league stage matches in the previous two campaigns but have already lost six times this season and find themselves in unfamiliar territory. While the defence has been typically stellar and has averaged 10.5 tackle points so far, the offence has struggled to deliver consistently, with only Rohit Gulia finding moderate success. Raider Sachin Tanwar has scored just 44 points in his nine appearances and is yet to hit the heights of his first two campaigns in the league. If the raiding unit manages to perform well against Haryana Steelers, Gujarat Fortunegiants’ well-drilled defensive unit can stave the opposition raiders off points. 

Haryana Steelers

Played: 10

Won: 6

Tied: 0

Lost: 4

Win Rate: 60%

Best Raider: Vikash Kandola

Best Defender: Dharmaraj Cheralathan

After beating U Mumba, Haryana Steelers picked up another big scalp by defeating the in-form Bengal Warriors in an offensive shootout on Monday. The star of the show was, unsurprising, the mercurial Vikash Kandola, who finished the night with 11 raid points, while giving away just a solitary tackle point in his 22 raid attempts. Rookie Vinay, too, had a fabulous night, scoring nine raid points in just 10 attempts. Skipper Dharmaraj Cheralathan accounted for four tackle points on the night, leading his team by example on the mat. While the result was sweet for coach Rakesh Kumar, the performance of his defence must be of concern for the first-year head coach, as they mustered just eight tackle points while conceding 24 raid points against Bengal Warriors. Haryana Steelers’ average of 9.3 tackle points ranks 10^th in the league and coach Rakesh will be hoping that the defence can step up in their upcoming fixtures.