Pro Kabaddi League 2018, Match 44: UP Yoddha vs Tamil Thalaivas, Player Ratings
The first day of the UP leg in the Pro Kabaddi League 2018 saw the UP Yoddha side face off against their South Indian counterparts Tamil Thalaivas at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. UP Yoddha
UP Yoddha came into this match on the back of a couple of wins over Puneri Paltan and Dabang Delhi KC in the Pune and Patna leg respectively. The raiding trio of Shrikant Jadhav, Prashant Kumar Rai, and the skipper Rishank Devadiga have been doing well so far for the team. The defence has been led by the right corner man Nitesh Kumar with the support of Narender and Sachin Kumar. Today's match saw the return of the veteran Jeeva Kumar and he hoped to make a positive impact after his absence so far this season.
Tamil Thalaivas were defeated in their previous match by the Gujarat Fortunegiants in Patna and were in an inconsistent run of form. The skipper Ajay Thakur was the lone man scoring the points for them and needed the support of fellow raiders Sukesh Hegde and Jasvir Singh on the mat. The defence was orchestrated by the experienced Manjeet Chillar from the cover position as he hoped to get back in a good stretch of form after starting out slow this season. Amit Hooda had displayed some promise in a couple of matches but hoped to do it consistently as the season progressed.
The Tamil Thalaivas produced a strong all-around performance in the first half powered by Sukesh Hegde and Manjeet Chillar to take a 26-11 lead. Tamil Thalaivas continued their dominance on the mat as they won 46-24 handing the UP Yoddha a defeat in their first home encounter.
UP Yoddha
Rishank Devadiga - (2/10)
The UP Yoddha captain only raided five times in the first half tonight and was unable to score a single raid point. He was substituted in the second half of the match and replaced by Rohit Kumar Choudhary.
Prashant Kumar Rai - (7/10)
The lanky raider was in good form tonight as he was the only raider who managed to get the better of the Thalaivas defence multiple times. He finished with a tally of 7 raid points that included four bonus points.
Shrikant Jadhav - (3/10)
The raider was in poor touch tonight as he was tackled down on multiple occasions by the Tamil Thalaivas defenders. He only managed to score 3 raid points tonight and will hope for a better showing as the home leg goes on.
Jeeva Kumar - (5/10)
The veteran defender came into the starting lineup after the injury layoff and did not have a great game tonight in the UP defence. He got three tackle points on the night and was the joint highest scoring defender for UP Yoddha tonight.
Narender - (5/10)
The all-rounder started off the match in good touch executing a Super Tackle and got three tackle points in the first half. He did not find much success in the second half of the match.
Nitesh Kumar - (3/10)
The right corner defender was a tad vulnerable tonight for the UP Yoddha as Sukesh Hegde and Ajay Thakur scored a lot of points against him. He did manage to get a couple of tackle points tonight.
Sachin Kumar - (4/10)
The all-rounder was involved for the most part in the defence for the UP Yoddha but managed to sneak in a couple of raid points as well.
Substitutes:
Sagar Krishna - (1/10)
The left corner defender came on for a few moments in the first half when UP Yoddha were down to the last two men.
Rohit Kumar Choudary - (1/10)
The young raider came on in the second half of the match. Despite having a lot of raid attempts, he failed to score a single point tonight.
Mohd. Masud Karim - (4/10)
The substitute came on in the second half of the match and did well to score two touch points in his two raid attempts.