Pro Kabaddi League Eliminator-bound captains gear up for PKL Playoffs
The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 10 playoffs are set to commence at the GMC Balayogi Sports Complex in Hyderabad on Monday, February 26,
With the top six teams - Puneri Paltan, Jaipur Pink Panthers, Dabang Delhi, Gujarat Giants, Haryana Steelers and Patna Pirates - set to battle it out for the coveted trophy, the excitement is expected to soar to greater heights.
All four captains from the eliminator-bound teams expressed their thoughts ahead of the playoffs.
"We've been able to notch wins consistently because we've been able to execute our plans. Our coach's strategies have been working for us. We played two close matches with Patna Pirates in the league stage. We won one match and tied the other game. Let's see what happens in the playoffs," stated Dabang Delhi skipper Ashu Malik on their fixture against the Patna Pirates.
The captain of the three-time Pro Kabaddi champions Patna Pirates, Sachin, said:
"The Dabang Delhi K.C. has a really good team and their captain Ashu Malik has been putting up fantastic performances. It's going to be a tough match for us. It'll depend on which team plays well on the day. Our defenders and raiders are high on confidence after a good performance in the league stage."
"We wanted to try some new combinations" - Fazel Atrachali ahead of Pro Kabaddi 2023 Playoffs
Gujarat Giants faced a 36-45 defeat against the Jaipur Pink Panthers in their final league stage fixture. Touching on how his team will go into the playoffs on the back of a loss against the defending champions, Gujarat skipper Fazel Atrachali said:
"We wanted to try some new combinations in our last league-stage match against Jaipur Pink Panthers. We weren't worried about the result of the match. We will face Jaipur in the semi-finals if we win our eliminator that's why we wanted to try some new players against them."
Acknowledging their opponents for the second eliminator of Pro Kabaddi season 10, Haryana Steelers captain Jaideep Dahiya said:
"The Gujarat Giants are a good team. We'll correct the mistakes that we made in our previous matches and hope to play well in the playoffs. We won both of our league-stage matches against Gujarat. However, we have to play well on the day to defeat them once again."
The first eliminator will see Dabang Delhi square off against the Patna Pirates while the Gujarat Giants and the Haryana Steelers will face each other in the second eliminator of Pro Kabaddi 2023. The stakes are high as all four teams will sweat it out for the remaining two semi-final spots.