In their second home match of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 5, the new entrants, Tamil Thalaivas will clash against the seasoned campaigners, Jaipur Pink Panthers as a part of the Inter-Zone Challenge Week at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai.
The Tamil Thalaivas lost the inaugural match at home last night against Puneri Paltan by a big margin of 20-33 and will be eager to turn the tables tonight. The Jaipur Pink Panthers are also coming into this encounter on the back of a loss against the Telugu Titans.
The Thalaivas looked in a good winning momentum prior to the last match wherein they clinched two thrilling victories over the Gujarat Fortunegiants and the Bengal Warriors but somehow failed to sustain the same against the Puneri Paltan. The attack is led by the skipper, Ajay Thakur who has been brilliant in the recent matches and he is supported by K Prapanjan and foreign recruit, Dong Geon Lee.
The defence is manned by the brute and skilled Amit Hooda in one corner, in tandem with the experienced C Arun. The duo works alongside other young guns like Darshan J and Vineet Kumar in order to keep the rival attack at bay. D Pradap and Vijin Thangadurai have also been quite impressive in bits and pieces but need to be more consistent specifically with regards to increasing their frequency of tackles.
Jaipur Pink Panthers, on the other hand, has shaped up as a team where the young recruits of the team are largely overshadowing the performances of the experienced campaigners. With the trio of Jasvir Singh, Manjeet Chhillar and Selvamani all being out of the playing squad for some amount of time through the season so far, the young recruits have shined, taking the responsibility on their shoulders.
Pawan Kumar has stood out with his exceptional raiding, particularly in the last match wherein he picked up 17 points in a losing cause. Amongst others, all-rounders in the likes of Siddharth Dahiya, Nitin Rawal, Sunil and Santhapanaselvam, have all been quite in their own capacity.
Tamil Thalaivas vs Jaipur Pink Panthers match prediction
With Jaipur fielding a full-strength squad, it will be difficult for the Thalaivas to penetrate through the defence and moreover also stop the likes of Selvamani, Pawan and Tushar in the attack. Hence, if one has to call the match, it would be in favour of the visitors as against the hosts.