Welcome to Sportstar's coverage of the Pro Kabaddi League. This is Shyam Vasudevan and I will be taking you through today's PKL 8 match between UP Yoddha and Gujarat Giants.
Alright then, that brings us to the end of our Pro Kabaddi League coverage for the day. We will be back tomorrow. See you then!
Meanwhile, you can also check out our Kings of Kabaddi series from PKL 7 - a happier time pre-COVID when we got to physically sit down with some of the biggest names in the league and hear their stories. You can check out all episodes here:
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An enthralling game of kabaddi comes to an end with both the teams sharing the spoils as UP Yoddha and Gujarat Giants play out a 32-32 draw. UP Yoddha could have gone for the kill as they had the last raid, but coach Jasveer Singh asked Pardeep Narwal to take no risks and simply secure the draw.
Pardeep got off to a slow start but came good when it mattered as he scored a Super 10 and inspired his side's comeback. Gujarat Giants, a side known for its defensive prowess, scored the most raid points of the evening as Rakesh Narwal bagged his third Super 10 and scored 13 points.
The result sees Gujarat Giants climb up to the second spot in the PKL 8 , while UP Yoddha climbs two spots to move to seventh.
32-32 IT'S A TIE!
Pardeep does as his coach asked of him and takes no risks. He kills the clock and ensures his side secures a tie.
The UP Yoddha coach says he will be happy with a draw and just make this last raid a legal raid. Will Pardeep be content with a draw?
UP Yoddha has taken a time out with exactly 21 second left on the clock! Gujarat Giants are down to four men and hence the bonus line will not be active.
32-32 We're back on level terms and it's Pardeep who gets the touch on Sumit. The Gujarat Giants is vehemently opposing the fact Pardeep got a touch on him, but his protest falls on deaf ears.
31-32 The umpires decision stands and the Gujarat Giants now have a one-point lead.
Rakesh Narwal wants two points but the Gujarat Giants don't have a review because they lost it a while back while challenging a rather tame bonus point. The umpires have ruled in Gujarat Giants' favour and UP Yoddha has now asked for a review.
31-31 Parvesh does the exact opposite of what his coach just said - he gets caught out by Rohit's running hand touch.
This one's going down to the wire! What a humdinger of a contest this is!
30-30 Do-or-die raid and Ajay Kumar cannot get the point. Sumit leaps in from the left corner and gets the tackle point.
29-30 Surender does the job! He slips out of Girish's ankle hold on the left corner and reduces the deficit to a sole point.
28-30 Bundled out! Pardeep was tumbling backwards but is blocked by Ravinder Pahal.
28-29 SUPER 10 FOR PARDEEP! The dubki is in action as he ducks one challenge and gets a kick on another defender to keep his side in the reckoning.
26-29 Ajay Kumar, that's too good! He picks up two points and eliminates two defenders in the prcess.
26-27 That's good defending from Gujarat Giants. Parvesh waited until the right moment before trapping Surender with a thigh hold
Pardeep doesn't look completely fit. He's got a bit of taping on his left knee and hasn't looked his sprightly self today.
26-26 No escape this time for Rakesh Narwal, but he does not go empty-handed - he bags a bonus point and the scores remain level.
That's Rakesh Narwal's third Super 10 in the PKL.
23-25 SUPER 10! Rakesh Narwal, Gujarat Giants' ace raider this season, brings up his Super 10.
23-23 Rohit and Pahal both step out of bounds and both sides get a point each.
Gujarat Giants have lost their review. That was a really poor call and the side has no reviews left.
That's a strange review from Gujarat Giants. They've reviewed a bonus point call, with over 13 minutes to go.
22-22 Pardeep brings his side back on level terms! He gets a toe touch on Sunil and then a running hand touch on Girish. Pardeep has got to seven points now and has gotten rid of Gujarat Giants' two best defenders!
20-22 ALL OUT! UP Yoddha has made a great comeback as the defence comes good and blocks Gujarat Giants' Pradeep.
17-21 Surender Gill comes in with a heavily strapped lower jaw/chin and races in to get rid of a Gujarat Giants defender. An All Out in the offing!
16-20 Pardeep toys with Ravinder Pahal and picks up his sixth point. Gujarat Giants are now down to two men.
That's quite unlike Pardeep! There are only four Gujarat Giants men on the mat and Pardeep does not even make an attempt to score. He simply makes it a legal raid and treads back.
14-20 Rakesh Narwal is taken out! It's a do-or-die raid and Sumit makes a stirring dash from left corner to tackle him to the floor.
13-20 Pardeep is back on the mat and gets rid of Parvesh right away.
12-20 SUPER TACKLE! Fantastic stuff from Ashu and Nitish! Ashu throws himself at Rakesh's legs and Nitish offers him grea support to earn the Super Tackle.
UP Yoddha is crumbling apart and how! Pardeep has been confined to the bench for nearly 10 minutes now.
9-20 Gujarat Giants are running away with this one! Rakesh Narwal is the man of the moment again as he picks up two raid points.
9-18 Ouch, that's got to hurt! Girish comes up with a monstrous tackle to deny Shrikant.
9-17 That's a huge kick from Rakesh Narwal, on the run, and gets the faintest of touches on Sumit.
Gujarat Giants, traditionally a defensive unit, has already picked up 10 raid points while UP Yoddha has managed only seven.
8-15 Pardeep heads a little too deep into the Gujarat Giants half and runs into a wall of bodies. Guess who initiated the tackle? Girish, of course.
8-14 Parvesh is a tad too eager and tries to tackle Pardeep, but the Dubki King has the last laugh.
7-14 Rohit tries to emulate his team-mate Pardeep an attempts a dubki , but is completely undone by Girish. The Gujarat Giants right corner is looking very sharp.
7-12 ALL OUT! Rakesh Narwal, you hero! He leaps out of Nitish's tackle and pushes away Ashu to inflict the All Out. Gujarat Giants have taken a good lead here.
7-8 Shrikant heads in for a do-or-die raid but cannot get a point!
Surender takes a knock to the chin and Shrikant Jadhav replaces him.
7-7 SUPER TACKLE! Rakesh is undone by the three-man UP Yoddha defence and the teams are back on level terms. What a frantic start to the game.
5-7 Surender Gill saves UP Yoddha from the clutches of an All Out as he bags a bonus point and gets rid of right corner Ravinder Pahal.
3-6 Pardeep is held back by Girish. It looked like he would just about manage to reach the midline but Girish yanked him away.
3-5 Rakesh, the all-rounder, gets his first point of the evening and the Gujarat Giants takes an early lead.
3-4 SUPER RAID! Rakesh Narwal, you beauty! The Gujarat Giants raider makes a statement in his very first raid as he sneaks out of a three-man challenge.
3-1 Rohit Tomar, thats a fantastic raid. He shows great pace and races to the left to get rid of Girish. The Gujarat Giants defender has been sent off the mat twice in the opening two minutes.
2-0 Super start for Pardeep! He gets the better of Girish Narwal and Gujarat Giants' ace raider in Rakesh.
Pardeep Narwal will begin the proceedings with the first raid.
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LINEUPS:
UP Yoddha: Pardeep Narwal, Ashu Singh, Gurdeep, Rohit Tomar, Surender Gill, Nitesh Kumar, Sumit
Gujarat Giants: Rakesh Narwal, Sunil Kumar, Parvesh Bhainswal, Ajay Kumar, Rakesh, Ravinder Pahal, Girish Maruti Ernak
Gujarat Giants form guide: 3 games, 1 loss, 1 win, 1 draw
UP Yoddha form guide: 3 games, 1 win, 2 losses
8:26pm: 52 points.
That's how much Dabang Delhi has scored, beating the defending champion Bengal Warriors by 17 points. Woah! Pardeep Narwal will want to take notes.
8.20pm: Pardeep Narwal has had to single-handedly carry his team's raiding unit. On paper the Gujarat giants don't look raider heavy, with all the big names occupying their backline but Rakesh Narwal has been a revelation for this side and managed to hold him the side in the front. With Pardeep not always finding adequate support from his team, could this be enough for UP Yoddha to hold out against the Giants?
8.10pm:
Meanwhile, an absolutely nerve wracking game is unfolding in the first game of the night with Dabang Delhi clipping Bengal Warriors' wings. Follow that live here:
8pm:
An interesting encounter awaits us as UP Yoddha takes on Gujarat Giants. UP Yoddha just about managed a win against Patna Pirates in its previous game and will hope to reproduce some of that spunk today. Gujarat Giants saw Ravinder Pahal concede an unnecessary point to settle for a draw against Dabang Delhi. Shaky campaigns so far for both outfits but it will be an interesting contest today as an almost one-man raiding department goes against one of the better defending units of the leagues.
Before we introduce you to the fixtures of the day, here's a look at the results from the last three days -
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