Dabang Delhi, Bengaluru Bulls and U Mumba look to consolidate position

Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 will usher in the new year with a triple-header on Saturday. The first match of the day will see in-form U Mumba take on U.P. Yoddha which will be followed by a Southern Derby featuring Bengaluru Bulls and Telugu Titans. The last match of the night will be between table-toppers Dabang Delhi K.C. and Tamil Thalaivas.

Raider show

U Mumba’s raiders V Ajith Kumar and Abhishek Singh have been instrumental in the team’s good start to the season. Both the raiders clinched Super 10s against Jaipur Pink Panthers to help the Season 2 champions reach third on the points table. Captain Fazel Atrachali also had a great outing with three tackle points which should help him improve his confidence after a stuttering start.

U.P. Yoddha have struggled to get their season running despite signing Pardeep Narwal in the vivo PKL auctions. The star raider is slowly starting to get the points but the raiding unit has struggled to match the expected levels for U.P. Yoddha. The usually reliable defensive duo of Nitesh Kumar and Sumit has also looked susceptible for U.P. Yoddha in the initial stages of the league.

Southern Derby

An in-form Pawan Sehrawat is like a tornado making landfall – he will conquer everything that comes his way. The Bengaluru Bulls’ star raider unleashed his very best in the 22-point performance (including three tackle points) against Haryana Steelers and will be eyeing another great day on the mat against a struggling Telugu Titans team on Day 1 of the New Year.

Titans will be hoping their own star raider, Siddharth Desai, can regain form to give Bulls’ defence a challenge. With no wins in Season 8, the Titans are in desperate need of an inspiring performance from their raiding unit. Captain Rohit Kumar has been out of form while Rajnish’s absence due to an injury has compounded their challenges.

Mahender Singh and More GB have looked impressive in the defence for Bulls who are currently second on the points table. The Bulls will go into the match as favourites but Kabaddi is a sport known for its unpredictability.  

No stopping Naveen

Dabang Delhi K.C. have looked like a well-oiled engine in the early stages of Season 8 with Naveen Kumar leading the way. The young raider already has 66 raid points in 4 matches including a 24-point performance against defending champions Bengal Warriors.

Tamil Thalaivas captain Surjeet Singh will need to once again control his troops against the dangerous raider. His own raiding unit of Manjeet, K Prapanjan and Bhavani Rajput have the ability to give the error-prone Delhi defensive duo of Manjit Chhillar and Jeeva Kumar a hard time. Thalaivas have failed to convert a lot of good starts into victory and will need to stop Naveen Kumar to change their fortunes.

All three matches will be played at The Sheraton Grand, Whitefield Bengaluru – the fixed venue for Season 8 of vivo PKL.

Tune In details (01/01/2022)

7:30 PM: U Mumba vs U.P. Yoddha

8:30 PM: Bengaluru Bulls vs Telugu Titans

9:30 PM: Dabang Delhi K.C. vs Tamil Thalaivas

All matches can be watched on Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar