Pro Kabaddi League Season 5: 5 player battles to watch out for in the Chennai leg
Season 5 of the Pro Kabaddi League is now heading into its last month with teams focused on qualifying for the Super Playoffs. The tournament now moves to Chennai for the first time ever as debutants Tamil Thalaivas try to string some wins together.
With qualification for the Super Playoffs still a possibility, the bottom-ranked Thalaivas need to approach their home leg with extra concentration to get as many victories as possible.
Teams that are doing well, like Gujarat Fortunegiants, Haryana Steelers and Bengal Warriors, all made good use of their home legs and the team from Tamil Nadu would look to emulate them.
With some big encounters across the league scheduled for the next six days, here are five of the most entertaining player battles from the Chennai leg of season five of Pro Kabaddi League:
#1 Fazel Atrachali (Gujarat Fortunegiants) vs Pardeep Narwal (Patna Pirates)
The two teams in question have had good seasons up to this point, with the Pirates top of Zone B with 65 points, while Gujarat sit in second place in Zone A with 57 points, having played two matches less.
Fazel Atrachali has been immense in defence for the Fortunegiants, having scored 43 points in 17 matches. His strong, athletic style of defending has given raiders across the league a tough time.
His partnership with Iranian teammate Abozar Mighani has been excellent and has provided the ideal foundation for Gujarat to excel.
He will go up against the league's best raider, Patna Pirates' Pardeep Narwal, who has already scored 238 points in 18 matches, 85 more than the second-highest scorer.
Narwal's risky raiding style, combined with his steely determination, has worked very well for the Pirates as they look to win the title for the third season in a row.