Rakesh Kumar coached Haryana Steelers will be competing in their opening clash of PKL season 8 against three time champions Patna Pirates.
Patna Pirates would be eager to set aside their demons of last two seasons where they were pretty average as they have let go their star raider Pardeep Narwal and replaced him with new captain Prashanth Kumar Rai who will be complemented equally by players like Sachin Tanwar and Monu Goyat in raiding department. On the other hand, Haryana Steelers looks pretty balance on paper as they have new captain in Vikas Kandola with presence of other players like Rohit Gulia and Surender Nada which would mean there would be less pressure on him.
Expected 7 of Haryana Steelers in the opening clash against Patna Pirates: Vikas Kandola, Rohit Gulia, Meetu Sharma, Rajesh Narwal, Ravi Kumar, Surender Nada and Shrikanth Tewatia.
Expected 7 of Patna Pirates in the opening clash against Haryana Steelers: Prasanth Kumar Rai, Sachin Tanwar, Monu Goyat, Sandeep, Neeraj, Shubham Shinde and Mohammadreza Shadloui.
Key Players of both sides to watch out for: Vikas Kandola, Meetu Sharma and Surendra Nada(Haryana Steelers)
Sachin Tanwar and Monu Goyat(Patna Pirates)
The battle between Vikas Kandola and Sachin Tanwar will be interesting to watch as they both have awesome raiding skills.
Match Prediction: Both teams looks equally strong on paper but Haryana Steelers defence does hold a slight edge over Patna Pirates in that case we might see Steelers emerging as the winner of the contest.
