PKL 2019, Match 9 preview: Can Delhi stop Ajay Thakur, Rahul Chaudhari?

Dabang Delhi have a clear advantage over Tamil Thalaivas going into the match as they won both their earlier encounters. Delhi are one of the 3 teams in PKL that Thalaivas are yet to beat

On Day 5 of VIVO Pro Kabaddi League, PKL 2019, Dabang Delhi will lock horns with Tamil Thalaivas at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday. Both the teams have won their first matchs of Pro Kabaddi after defeating the same opposition -  Telugu Titans. Tamil Thalaivas were boosted by top two raiders, Ajay Thakur and Rahul Chaudhari, and did well in their first match as a pair. Thalaivas are the only team in PKL 2019 with both raiders having crossed the 700-raid point mark. Rahul Chaudhari was the star with a Super 10 against his former team, while Ajay took a backseat with just 4 raid points. On the other hand, Dabang Delhi have a young raider in Naveen Kumar, who continued his good form last season and completed a Super 10 on Wednesday.

Check Day 5 (Dabang Delhi vs Tamil Thalaivas) LIVE score and match updates here

Check Pro Kabaddi schedule and points table here
 
Player Battle
 
Ajay Thakur vs Vishal Mane
 

Ajay Thakur’s previous match against Dabang Delhi was also a big one. He scored 14 raid points (19 raids) in the only game against Delhi in Pro Kabaddi 2018. Ajay will renew his rivalry  - one of the longest running rivalries in PKL - with Vishal Mane. The two have faced off 36 times. Only 3 raider-defender pairs have had more than 30 head to head battles in PKL history of which this is one. Ajay Thakur has used his evading skills to be successful against Vishal Mane. He has used escape 16 times out of his 20 successes and the remaining 4 have been from Hand Touch. Meanwhile, Vishal Mane has used the Dash and Block skills to great effect in tackling Ajay.

Highest no. of Head to Head Battles – PKL
Raider vs Defender	Total Duels
Pardeep Narwal vs. Manjeet Chhillar	39
Ajay Thakur vs. Vishal Mane	36
Rohit Kumar vs. Surjeet Singh	34

 

 
Dabang Delhi vs Tamil Thalaivas head to head
 
Head to head, Dabang Delhi have a clear advantage over Tamil Thalaivas going into the match as they won both the encounters. Dabang Delhi are one of 3 teams in PKL that Tamil Thalaivas are yet to beat.

Match No.	Dabang Delhi	Tamil Thalaivas	Result
PKL 6, Match 99	37	33	Dabang Delhi won by 4 points
PKL 5, Match 32	30	29	Dabang Delhi won by 1 point

 

Dabang Delhi vs Tamil Thalaivas probable starting seven
 

Dabang Delhi	Vs	Tamil Thalaivas
Ravinder Pahal	Right Corner	Mohit Chhillar
Naveen Kumar	Right In	Rahul Chaudhari
Vishal Mane	Right Cover	Ajeet
Meraj Sheykh	Center	Shabeer Bappu
Anil Kumar	Left Cover	Manjeet Chhillar
Chandran Ranjit	Left In	Ajay Thakur ©
Joginder Narwal ©	Left Corner	Ran Singh