Pro Kabaddi 2019 preview: Top PKL defenders to feature in today's match

In Match 100 of Pro Kabaddi 2019, Gujarat Fortunegiants will lock horns with Jaipur Pink Panthers Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Saturday. Jaipur’s success early in the season was based on a very tactical approach they used - limiting the number of unsuccessful raids - and by keeping Deepak Hooda on the mat as much as possible. Their strong defence was nearly unbreakable which meant the raiders were more of a supporting act.

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Jaipur Raiding – PKL 7
Phase	Avg. Raid Points	Raid SR	Avg. Bonus Points	Raid Failure %	Super 10s
First 9 Matches	15.3	38	2.3	19.6%	3
Last 7 Matches	16.4	38	5.9	28.9%	2

 

But now with their defence not as strong as before, the raiders haven’t managed to lift their game to compensate for the defence’s errors. Looking at the broad numbers there is not much of a difference between Jaipur raider's earlier performance and their performance now. Their raid point average and raid strike rate are almost similar.

Jaipur Raiders First 9 Matches – PKL 7
Raider	Raid Pts.	Raid Failure %	% of Team’s Raid Pts.
Deepak Hooda	67	11%	49%
Deepak Narwal	30	23%	22%
Nilesh Salunke	15	20%	11%
Nitin Rawal	13	25%	9%
Ajinkya Pawar	8	39%	6%
Sachin Narwal	5	23%	4%

 

Gujarat’s Cover Combo Well Off The Pace

Gujarat’s cover combination of Sunil Kumar and Parvesh Bhainswal has come nowhere close to the heights they reached last season. By this time last season, both covers had already crossed the 50 tackle point mark after 16 matches. However, Sunil Kumar currently has 8 tackle points less than what he managed in PKL 6. The big drop has come for Parvesh, who is on 22 tackle points only. Parvesh’s tackle strike rate has also seen a huge drop from 66 to just 50 this season.

Gujarat Covers Comparison After 16 Matches
PKL 6		Vs.	PKL 7
Sunil Kumar	Parvesh Bhainswal		Sunil Kumar	Parvesh Bhainswal
51	56	Tackle Points	43	34
3.2	3.5	Avg. Tackle Pts.	2.7	2.1
2	4	High 5s	4	2
59	66	Tackle SR	54	50

 

They have rarely played well in the same game this season which is why the team has not been able to win despite 6 total HIGH 5s from the two of them. This was also seen in their previous match against Dabang Delhi when Sunil finished with one tackle point and Parvesh had none.
 

Sunil Kumar & Parvesh Bhainswal - PKL 2019
Performance	No. of Matches	Wins	Losses	Ties	Win %
One of them scoring 2 or more tackle points	8	1	6	1	13%
Both scoring 2 or more tackle points	5	4	1	0	80%
Both scoring less than 2 tackle points	3	0	3	0	0%

 

Key Battle: Sunil-Parvesh vs Deepak Hooda

Jaipur captain Deepak Hooda has a close 3-5 record against his Gujarat counterpart Sunil Kumar. However, he has a dominant 12-2 record against Parvesh Bhainswal, which Jaipur will want to capitalize on, as Parvesh is not in good form at the moment. The 12 times that Parvesh has gotten out to Deepak Hooda is the most for him against any raider. Deepak was 2-0 against him in the first meeting this season.

Deepak Hooda Successful Raids vs. Parvesh Bhainswal – Skill wise (PKL Overall)
Successful Raid	Hand touch	Escape
12	6	6