The Jaipur Pink Panthers will battle it out against the Patna Pirates in the Pro Kabaddi League on Friday at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata.
The Panthers are playing their second match in two days. In their last encounter on Thursday, they came up trumps against the Telugu Titans. Going into the match, the Titans were the favourites but the Panthers delivered on the day.
The Titans had held leaders U Mumba to a draw earlier in the league. Though the Panthers were in excellent form in Kolkata. Maninder Singh and Jasvir Singh attacked without any fear, and this strategy paid off. The two used the crouching tiger move very well, reported Business Standard.
In the first half, Rohit Rana and Rajesh Narwal in defence saw to it that the Titans' raiders would not cause any problems.
The defence held its own in the second half as well. Jasvir was still mounting attacks as at no point did Jaipur give away a lead. The Best Raider award came Jasvir's way, while skipper Navneet Gautam also supported his players well. In the end, a scoreline of 46 to 32 in Jaipur's favour was an accurate reflection of them being the better team.
And now, they would be hoping that Maninder and Jasvir score heavily against the Pirates. The defenders will again play a crucial role as they have to contain star player Rakesh Kumar. After their win on Thursday, the side would have gained more confidence.
The Pirates lost a closely contested match against U Mumba. Rakesh showed why he is rated so highly in the kabaddi fraternity as he scored no less than 15 points. In the game against U Mumba, the team appeared to depend a lot on Rakesh. But the other members should now try and provide support to his fantastic raiding skills. If the defence holds itself together, the team would appear formidable.
But against the Panthers, a lot will obviously depend on Rakesh. There is no doubt that he will try to seize the initiative. This time he will hope for a beter show from the team's defence.
Jaipur will look to climb the table, while Patna would seek to open their account in the Pro Kabaddi League; it should be a tight contest.
Where to Watch Live
Jaipur Pink Panthers play the Patna Pirates at 8.00 pm. Star Sports will air the match. Live coverage will comence on Star Sports HD 2 from 7.45 pm. This is the link for the live streaming option Starsports.com.
