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 Patna Pirates.
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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We head into the third game of the evening as Jaipur Pink Panthers takes on Haryana Steelers. Join me on the blog here -
FULL TIME: UP Yoddha comes up with a fine comeback to beat Telugu Titans 39-35.
38-34 That's got to be the game. Ankit gets taken out by the defence and that's that.
37-34 ALL OUT! UP Yoddha has made a comeback of its own to now lead by three points! What a fight back from the Yoddhas!
34-34 Surender escapes from Sandeep's clutches and the Titans are down to one man!
Two minutes to go and just one point separating the two sides!
33-34 Surender comes good on the do-or-die raid as he escapes Surinder's ankle hold and manages to tag Akash on the right corner. SUPER 10 for Surender!
31-34 Oh that's a rib-crunching tackle from Shrikant to get rid of Adarsh!
29-34 Adarsh delivers on the do-or-die raid yet again as he outfoxes the UP Yoddha defence.
UP Yoddha, which is trailing, is strangely playing for the do-or-die raids. That's a very bizarre strategy for a side that's looking at a fifth straight loss!
29-33 Surender ploughs his way through Ankit and makes it a four-point game.
28-33 Pardeep gets his third point of the game via a bonus. Pardeep has been substituted now.
27-33 That's a brave raid from Adarsh! He goes in for the do-or-die raid and gets rid of both the corners in Sumit and Nitesh!
Pardeep Narwal has struggled today too, managing just two points in seven raids. He seems to have crumbled under the weight of expectations at UP Yoddha. He was expected to spearhead the team's raiding department, but has done little to help his team’s cause. Although he did become the first player to score 1200 points in the PKL’s history earlier in the season, he has managed only 104 points from 211 raids in 15 matches. In comparison, Surender Gill, who is playing just his second season, has amassed 129 points from 14 matches and has made two raids lesser than Pardeep. What has led to this? I analyse -
27-31 Shrikant falters on the do-or-die raid Rajnish shoves him off the mat. Nine minutes to go!
26-30 Telugu Titans' Galla Raju gets a touch point to extend his side's lead to four points.
That's the second Super Tackle of the evening for Telugu Titans!
26-29 SUPER TACKLE! That has to be one of the tackles of the season! Prince grabs on to Surender's wrist and refuses to let go! Surender struggles and wriggles but has no way out. What a moment of beauty from Prince, wow!
26-26 Shrikant, you beauty! He gets the better of Surinder and Ankit to bring his side back on level terms.
Rajnish limps off the mat and seems to have hurt his knee. The Titans cannot afford another injury - Siddharth Desai and Rohit are already out!
23-26 Sumit gets in on the act and wraps Rajnis's ankle with an impenetrable hold.
21-26 Anjit delivers in Rajnish's absence with a superb two-point raid.
Super 10 for Rajnish!
20-24 Surender scores off the first raid of the half and Rajnish follows it up with a two-point raid.
HALF-TIME: Telugu Titans leads UP Yoddha at 22-18.
18-22 ALL OUT! Telugu Titans makes a stirring comeback to inflict the All Out and take a four-point lead at the cusp of half-time!
17-19 Adarsh does very well to get the better of Gaurav and UP Yoddha is down to one man!
16-18 Adarsh gets the better of Nitesh on the right.
16-17 Ankit comes up with a phenomenal tackle to pin Surender to the mat. And the Titans have taken the lead now!
16-16 Superb work from Rajnish! He escapes Sumit's ankle hold and gets away from Shubham too to bag two crucial points.
Both the teams have scored four tackle points each so far.
16-14 Rajnish takes Gurdeep along with him past the mid-line to pick up his seventh point of the game.
16-13 Fantastic work from Surender as he catches Sandeep with a sliding reverse toe touch.
15-13 Oh my word, that was so close! Pardeep nearly wipes out the entire Titans defence, but falls a cm short of the mid-line.
15-12 ALL OUT! Adarsh comes off the bench but cannot rescue his side as he's taken out by Sumit on the right.
11-11 Sumit finally comes good as he traps Ankit with a strong ankle hold. The Titans are down to two men!
10-11 What a fine comeback from UP Yoddha - Shrikant executes a superb running hand touch to reduce his side's deficit to one point.
9-11 Taken out! Shubham comes to the fore as he goes in with a strong dive and tackles Rajnish.
8-11 Good work from Surender as he catches Sandeep on the toe.
Pardeep has taken a knock to his face and seems to have a bleeding nose.
7-11 Wow, that is some tackle from Ankit! He darts from the right, halts Pardeep's progress, and then quite literally throws him backwards!
7-10 Rajnish extends his side's lead with a two-point raid! He lands a fine kick on Sumit, who's once again caught napping, and grabs a bonus point too.
7-8 Excellent work from Rajnish! He simply brushes Gurdeep aside with aplomb.
7-7 Pardeep picks up another point as he gets a touch on Surinder in the right corner.
6-6 SUPER TACKLE! Sandee single-handedly tackles Surender to earn his side two massive points and restore parity.
6-4 Do-or-die raid for Telugu Titans and Raju just about manages a bonus point!
6-3 That's a big raid from Surender Gill! He evades Akash's ankle hold, while Ankit steps off bounds. Two points for Surender.
4-3 Manish makes another error to let Rajnish steal a point.
3-3 The UP Yoddha defence comes alive as Nitesh makes a brave dash from the right to usher Rajnish off the mat.
1-2 Pardeep gets going as he lands a running kick on Manish, who had no clue of what to do there.
0-2 Rajnish opens his account in his first raid as he picks up a bonus point.
0-1 Ankit Beniwal scores the first point of the game as he catches Sumit with a toe touch.
Telugu Titans will raid first.
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8:35pm: TEAM NEWS!
UP Yoddha: Pardeep Narwal, Surender Gill, Nitesh Kumar, Sumit, Gurdeep, Shubham, Shrikant Jadhav
Telugu Titans: Sandeep Khandola, Surinder Singh, Rajnish, Ankit Beniwal, Manish, Prince, Akash Choudhary
8:30pm: Pardeep Narwal seems to have crumbled under the weight of expectations at UP Yoddha. He was expected to spearhead the team's raiding department, but has done little to help his team’s cause. Although he did become the first player to score 1200 points in the PKL’s history earlier in the season, he has managed only 104 points from 211 raids in 15 matches. In comparison, Surender Gill, who is playing just his second season, has amassed 129 points from 14 matches and has made two raids lesser than Pardeep. What has led to this? I analyse -
8:25pm: Telugu Titans has just one win this season and remains rooted to the bottom of the points table. The side's poor form can be attributed to Siddharth Desai's injury and also Rajnish's poor form of late. The Titans' thin raiding unit has made life difficult for their defence and the results are evident. The Titans will play out the rest of the season with an eye towards the future but will hope to pick up a few wins along the way.
8:20pm: UP Yoddha’s playoff credentials have taken a big hit, courtesy of four straight losses. The side's famed defence has mustered only 33 tackle points during this barren run, while the Record-Breaker Pardeep Narwal has struggled to find any semblance of form. UP Yoddha has held opponents to under 35 points only thrice in its last 11 matches. While the side is still in a decent position to push for a playoff spot, it needs significant improvement, especially in defence, to retain its hopes.
8:10pm: U Mumba is cruising to a massive win against Tamil Thalaivas. Follow my colleague Nigamanth's live blog here -
8:00pm: Hey guys, welcome to our PKL coverage of the day. Before we get to today's game, here's a recap of what went down in the PKL over the last fortnight -
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