Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: 5 player battles to watch out for in the Ahmedabad leg

Season 5 of the Pro Kabaddi League will today enter a new frontier, as it moves to the city of Ahmedabad. The Gujarat Fortunegiants would be looking to make the most of their home advantage and get their campaign back on track after a mixed bag of a beginning.

The Ahmedabad leg will also host part of the Inter Zone Challenge Week as teams from both Zone A and B will go up against each other over the latter half of the next seven days.

With 11 matches to be played, there promises to be a lot of extremely well balanced and entertaining encounters, with the home team featuring in six of these match-ups.

Here are five player battles that will set the tone for the matches during this leg:

#1 Fazel Atrachali (Gujarat Fortunegiants) vs Anup Kumar (U Mumba)

The opening encounter of the Ahmedabad leg will see hosts Gujarat go up against U Mumba, one of the most consistent outfits since the inception of the Pro Kabaddi League.

Legendary Indian national team and Mumba raider Anup Kumar will face his former team-mate Fazel Atrachali, who is spearheading the Fortunegiants' defence after his exploits in previous seasons with both the Mumbai outfit and defending champions Patna Pirates.

Anup has made a steady start to the season so far, accumulating 21 raid points in his three matches, and leads the league in super raids, having already executed two.

Fazel has yet to hit the heights he achieved in previous seasons, having scored only six tackle points till now. However, playing in front of their home crowd, the explosive and powerful Iranian would be focused on stopping his former team-mate and secure the win for his team.

#2 Pardeep Narwal (Patna Pirates) vs Jeeva Kumar (U.P. Yoddha)

The defending champions will aim to continue their winning run in season five of the Pro Kabaddi League when they take on the U.P. Yoddha in their Zone B encounter on Sunday, the 13th of August.

Having won all three of their matches so far, the two-time champions have made a great start and would be looking to star raider Pardeep Narwal to continue his excellent run.

Narwal has scored 42 points in his three matches, an incredible tally when one considers that the raider with most points - 58, Rohit Kumar, of the Bengaluru Bulls has needed seven matches to achieve that tally.

The biggest obstacle in his path would be the Yoddha's Jeeva Kumar, who has made a steady start to the season, collecting seven tackle points in three matches till now.

The versatile Jeeva, who can play both right and left cover, would be looking to draw on all his experience to stop the 20-year-old Pardeep.

#3 Surjeet Singh (Bengal Warriors) vs Deepak Niwas Hooda (Puneri Paltan)

Deepak Niwas Hooda's consistency a key weapon in Pune's armoury

The first inter-zonal match will see the Bengal Warriors from Zone B face off against the Puneri Paltan from Zone A. Both teams have the same record after three matches, having won two and lost one for a total of 11 points.

The outcome of their encounter will hinge upon the battle between Surjeet Singh and Deepak Niwas Hooda. Surjeet has been crucial to the Warriors' defensive strength and will be looking to continue his good work against the Pune outfit.

Hooda, who has been a solid presence in the raiding department for the Paltan, having accumulated 15 points in three matches, with his steady scoring a constant source of points.

Both of them are known for their conservative style of play and their battle would definitely be one to keep an eye on.

#4 Surender Nada & Mohit Chillar (Haryana Steelers) vs Ajay Thakur (Tamil Thalaivas)

Surender Nada has been in great form for the Steelers

The defensive duo of Surender Nada and Mohit Chhillar have been team-mates for long in the Pro Kabaddi League, having previously played together for U Mumba and Bengaluru Bulls. Their partnership has also been replicated while playing for India and the two of them have been in good form for the Haryana Steelers this season.

Nada, who plays as the left corner, has in particular been on fire, having already scored 16 tackle points in only three matches. Chillar, who plays as the right corner, has been solid and has accumulated seven points so far.

They will go up against their India team-mate, the experienced Ajay Thakur, who is the captain of the relatively young Tamil Thalaivas. Thakur, who was the star when India won the Kabaddi World Cup, has had a slightly slow start to the season so far, with only 11 raid points in three matches.

However, the outfit from Tamil Nadu won their first match in the last encounter of the Bengaluru Leg that happened in Nagpur and would be looking to their captain to lead from the front and build on that win.

#5 Abozar Mighani (Gujarat Fortunegiants) vs Maninder Singh (Bengal Warriors)

Another exciting encounter during the Inter-zonal week would be the match between home team Gujarat Fortunegiants and the Bengal Warriors. Bengal have made the better start to the tournament, having won two and lost one of their three matches for a tally of 11 points.

The Fortunegiants have so far had a mixed bag, winning one, drawing one and losing one match, for a total of eight points.

The team from Gujarat have been reliant on their defence to take them home and will hope for the same from Iranian star Abozar Mighani, who has so far scored six points.

The defender, who forms a great duo with countryman Fazel Atra has used his strength and agility very well and will be looking to continue in the same vein against Maninder Singh of the Bengal outfit.

Singh, who had previously played only in season one of the Pro Kabaddi League, has been a constant thorn in the side of defences with his explosive raids, having scored 17 points in three matches.

The winner of this battle will definitely tilt the match in favour of his team.

Edited by Souvik Roy Chowdhury