Pro Kabaddi League 2018 | Match 44: UP Yoddha vs Tamil Thalaivas Review | 02 November 2018

UP Yoddha started its home leg against the Tamil Thalaivas. A win for the UP-based outfit would have propelled them to the top of Zone B.

UP Yodha, looking forward to their trio of superstar raiders to carry them over the line. Tamil Thalaivas, on the other hand, had just 2 wins to show in their 8 games.

A star-studded lineup that included the likes of Ajay Thakur, Manjeet Chillar, Amit Hooda, Sukesh Hegde, and Jasvir Singh need to live up to their reputations if they had to keep their play-offs hope alive.

Starting 7:

UP Yoddha – Prashant Kumar Rai, Jeeva Kumar, Shrikant Jadhav, Rishank Devadiga, Nitesh Kumar, Sachin Kumar, Narender

Tamil Thalaivas – Sukesh Hegde, Ponparthiban, Manjeet Chhillar, Jasvir Singh, Ajay Thakur, Amit Hooda, D. Pradap

Substitutes used:

Md Masud Karim, Rohit Kumar Choudary, Sagar Krishna and Amit.

Toss:

Ajay Thakur, captain of Tamil Thalaivas won the toss and chose the court.

Manjeet Chhillar drew the first blood by dashing out Prashant Kumar Rai in the 1straid itself and Ajay Thakur made a successful 1straid, making sure the Thalaivas have a lead since the very beginning of the game. In less than 3 minutes, Rishank Devadiga, captain of UP Yoddha was sent on the bench too. In return, UP Yoddha Super Tackled Jasvir, to make sure they don’t face an all-out but 7 minutes in the game and the in-form Thalaivas inflicted the 1stall-out of the night on the home team. 1-10, in favour of Tamil Thalaivas and the Chennai based team, was on an absolute roll.

UP Yodha tried to make a comeback by sending Ajay Thakur on the bench as the game picked up the pace. Just when the home team was looking to regroup, their confidence took a huge beating when Sukesh Hedge dived in, inflicting the 2ndall-out for UP Yoddha making a 5-point super raid, while Rishank Devadiga still tried to hold him back by a shirt pull. The scoreboard read 7-22 and UP Yodhas were already looking at a herculean lead of 15 points.

After halftime, the Thalaivas looked in control of the game and started playing a rather patient game by running down the clock. Shrikant Jadhav has not been in form in this match. He is being tackled and sent backpacking too often. 10 minutes left in the game and the in-form mighty Manjeet with a high-5, initiated another successful tackle, leaving only 2 men for UP Yoddha on the mat. But the Yoddhas tackled Jasvir in his do-or-die raid and delayed the inevitable. Amit Hooda too, got a High-5 of his own, his second of the season.

Ajay Thakur in the frame. [Picture Courtesy: ProKabaddi.com]

5 minutes left in the game, the score difference was still 15 points and the Thalaivas defense was in the auto-cruise mode. However, MD Masud Karim, a substitution in UP Yoddha, walked in and took 2 raid points in his consecutive raids. While the Yoddhas still hoped to change the game, Ajay Thakur romped his way to 9 raid points to avoid any upset.

As if this was not enough, 50 seconds before the game ceased, Tamil Thalaivas inflicted the 3rdall-out for the home team. Though the Mighty Manjeet, got a yellow card for an aggressive tackle following the all-out in the dying seconds of the match, he had been an absolute beast of the court with his 8 tackle points. The match ended 24-46 in the favor of Tamil Thalaivas.

The Thalaiva’s are back and that too with a BANG. Sukesh Hegde was a revelation in the 1sthalf, while Ajay Thakur carried the momentum into the second. A 22-point victory is huge in the context of a 40 minutes kabaddi match. Their defense was on-song today with 19 tackle points and if Manjeet Chillar, Amit Hooda and D Pratap continue with this kind off defensive masterclass then it is going to be very difficult for other sides. Tamil Thalaivas needed this kind of victory to get their season going. On the other hand, UP Yodhas will be hurt. Especially because this huge defeat came their way in the very first match of their home leg. They need to dust themselves down and get ready for their next clash with Bengaluru Bulls and try to get back to winning ways.