Pro Kabaddi League 2018, Match 81: Dabang Delhi K.C. vs Haryana Steelers | Match Preview and Predicted Lineups
Dabang Delhi takes on the Haryana Steelers in a Zone A encounter at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune today, Sunday at 8 pm IST.
The Dabangs are coming off a 23-39 loss against U Mumba in their last encounter courtesy a poor defensive performance. The defence of the Dabangs could manage just 5 tackle points in comparison to U Mumba's 15. Their captain, Joginder Narwal was the top defender with 3 tackle points, while Ravinder Pahal and Vishal Mane chipped in with a tackle point each.
In attack, the Dabangs scored 15 raid points with Chandran Ranjit emerging the top raider for his side with 7 raid points. Naveen Kumar gave a sub-par performance on the night as he could manage just 4 raid points off his 12 attempted raids.
The famed inconsistency of the Dabangs is coming to the fore as every win of theirs is followed by a defeat as has happened again.
The Haryana Steelers, are also coming off a defeat as they lost their previous encounter, 31-40 to the Gujarat Fortunegiants. While the Steelers matched the Fortunegiants in raid points, 20 raid points each, it was their defence with just 7 tackle points that led to yet another defeat for them in the season.
Kuldeep Singh (3 tackle points) and the substitute, Sachin Shingade (4 tackle points) were the only ones to contribute in the defence as the rest, Sudhanshu Tyagi, Parveen and Sunil came back empty-handed from the match.
Monu Goyat was his team's top raider with 10 raid points, while Vikas Kandola contributed with 6 raid points.
The defence of the Steelers has been suffering without the leadership of Surender Nada, who was ruled out of the season with an injury, and none of the other defenders have taken up the onus on themselves to lead the defence, hence the lack of coordination is quite visible leading to their defeats in the tournament.
The teams, Dabang Delhi and Haryana Steelers, have faced each other twice in this season so far, with Haryana Steelers winning the first one (Match-21) by 34-31, while the Dabangs got their revenge in the second match (Match-52) by 39-33.
Catch the latest updates of the Pro Kabaddi Points Table here at Sportskeeda...
Key Battles to keep an eye on
#1 Vikas Kandola (left raider) vs Ravinder Pahal (right corner)
#2 Naveen Kumar (right raider) vs Kuldeep Singh (left corner)
Probable playing 7:
Dabang Delhi: Joginder Narwal (c), Naveen Kumar, Chandran Ranjit, Meraj Sheykh, Vishal Mane, Rajesh Narwal, and Ravinder Pahal
Haryana Steelers: Monu Goyat (c), Vikas Kandola, Anand Surendra Tomar/Naveen, Parveen, Sachin Shingade, Sunil, and Kuldeep Singh
When and where to watch: 20:00 IST on the Star Sports network and on digital streaming platform Hotstar.