Puneri Paltan Vs Haryana Steelers, Match Preview, Key battles, Match Prediction

Puneri Paltan:
Puneri Paltan and Haryana Steelers are scheduled to play their first match today. Puneri Paltan will be led by PO Surjeet Singh who showcased a perfect display of defending for the Bengal Warriors last season. Experienced campaigner Anup Kumar announced his retirement from the game last season and will start the new innings this season as the head coach of Paltan. After a mediocre season last year having finished 4th in the Zone B, the team has added some young and promising talents mixed with some senior and experienced players with the likes of P.O Surjeet Singh and Girish Maruti.

Haryana Steelers
Haryana side has let go off their old captain Monu Goyat but have put faith in the young guns like Kuldeep Singh, Vikash Kandola and Prashanth Kumar Rai. The side will be coached by Rakesh Kumar who also announced retirement in the last season. Making their debut in season 5, the team has not fared as per the expectations. They will be keen to perform well this season. With Dharmaraj Cheralathan in the squad leading the side, the veteran defender will look to build the positive and a winning mindset of the team.

Match Details:
Date: 22nd May 2019 Time: 8:30 pm
Venue: Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad. Match Telecast: Star Sports Network Live Streaming: Hotstar

Head to Head:
Played: 6 Puneri Paltan: 5 Haryana Steelers: 1 Tie: 0

Last 5 Matches:
Puneri Paltan – W, L, L, L, L Haryana Steelers – D, L, L, L, L

Key Battles:
Let us look at the key battles in the following match:

PO Surjeet Singh Vs Vikas Khandola: 
Puneri Paltan franchise has renovated their whole team inviting PO Surjeet Singh into the team to lead the side. He is a strong defender and will be a player to watch out for today. On the other hand, Vikas Khandola has retained trust of his owners as he will play as one of the lead raiders for his team. He becomes dangerous when even a single guard is dropped by the opposition. The battle between PO Surjeet Singh and Vikas Khandola will be the one to watch out for.

Nitin Tomar Vs Dharmaraj Cheralathan:
All- rounder Nitin Tomar has raised his game level over the years. He also possesses leadership, leading UP Yoddha in their debut season. Whereas, Dharmaraj is a good defender who can play for both left and right corners.

Girish Maruti Ernak Vs Prashanth Kumar Rai:
Girish Ernak has performed pretty well in the Pro Kabaddi League. He had a good season last year and would be looking to continue his golden run this season too. On the other hand, Prashanth Kumar has also raised his game season by season. An aggressive raider in Prashanth Kumar will be tough to handle as it will be interesting to see how Girish stops Kumar to accumulate raiding points today.

Match Prediction:
Arguably, Puneri Paltan has a better team balance as they look strong in defence and also balanced in raiding department whereas, Haryana Steelers also has a strong defence department but they lack experience in Raiding department to some extent. Overall, looking at both the squads Puneri Paltan certainly has an edge over the latter.

Probable Playing Seven:
Puneri Paltan: PO Surjeet Singh(C), Nitin Tomar, Girish Ernak, Hadi Tajik, Sagar Krishna, Darshan Kadian, Manjeet.
Haryana Steelers – Dharmaraj Cherlathan(C), Prashanth Kumar Rai, Vikash Khandola, Vikas Kale, Kuldeep Singh, Naveen-I, Ravi Kumar.