Pro Kabaddi League 2018, Match 23: Patna Pirates vs Telugu Titans, Player Ratings
Pro Kabaddi League 2018 action continued on the second day of the Pune leg as the defending champions Patna Pirates faced off on the mat against Telugu Titans. The matches in the Pune leg are being hosted by the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune as the third leg of the three months long Pro Kabaddi League carries on amidst great fanfare.
The three-time defending champs Patna Pirates have been in good form this season after starting the season on a poor note with a loss against the Tamil Thalaivas in Chennai. However, they were quick to bounce back with two wins over the UP Yoddha as the main man Pardeep Narwal struck form and found good support from his team. The fellow raiders Deepak Narwal and Manjeet have done well in the raiding unit to support the skipper. The defence has been led by the left corner defender Jaideep who has been decent and will hope to perform better with the aid of defenders like Vikas Kale and Vijay Kumar.
Telugu Titans started the season on a bright note winning their first two matches over the Tamil Thalaivas and the UP Yoddha with convincing performances. The two matches saw them do well in both attack and defence as the team worked well together as a unit, especially the defence. The corner combination of Vishal Bhardwaj and Abozar Mighani have been highly effective for the Telugu Titans with their strong tackles and dashes in the backline. The Iranian all-rounders Farhad Milaghardan and Mohsen Maghsoudlou have also contributed well for the team in both attack and defence.
Telugu Titans showed great defensive stability as they won 35-31 over the defending champions Patna Pirates as the defensive duo of Abozar Mighani and Vishal Bhardwaj dazzled for the Titans.
Patna Pirates
Pardeep Narwal - (6/10)
The 'Dubki King', as he is popularly called, was kept quiet in the first half by the Telugu Titans' defenders and was caught three times spending a decent amount of time on the bench. He finished with just five points and had it tough to get going tonight against a stubborn defence.
Deepak Narwal - (2/10)
The former Bengal Warriors raider struggled tonight against the Telugu Titans and could not get a single point in the entire match.
Jaideep - (4/10)
The left corner of the Patna Pirates' defence started out well in the match getting two tackle points in the first half of the match. He added another tackle point in the second half but would have hoped for a better showing on the mat.
Vijay Kumar - (3/10)
The tall defender struggled to lock in tackles on the Titans' raiders and gave a couple of easy points for the opponents.
Vikas Kale - (3/10)
The cover defender struggled to score tackle points tonight and was ineffective with his dashes on the Telugu Titans' raiders.
Vikas Jaglan - (4/10)
The defender had a decent outing tonight as he scored a couple of good tackle points from the cover position in the Patna Pirates' defence.
Manjeet - (7/10)
The young lanky raider started off the match in a strong fashion as he pulled the game away from Telugu Titans early on in the match. He was called into action after both Pardeep Narwal and Deepak Narwal were tackled down and did well to get them back on track.
Substitutes:
Vijay - (6/10)
The all-rounder came on towards the end of the first half after Pardeep Narwal was on the bench for a long time. He was very impressive with his bonus points scoring as he ended up with a total of 7 raid points