Pro Kabaddi 2021-22 | Patna Pirates vs Dabang Delhi final preview, when and where to watch and starting 7s
A file image of Patna Pirates.
|(Twitter)
Dabang Delhi takes on Patna Pirates in final of the Pro Kabaddi League season 8 and both teams would love to lift the trophy. Catch all the LIVE action on the Star Sports Network and LIVE streaming on Disney+Hotstar; you can also follow the latest updates, scores on SportsCafe blog.
The Patna Pirates have put together a historic campaign. They finished the league stage with 86 points, 11 more than second-placed Dabang Delhi, a new PKL record. Their score difference of +120 is the third highest in the league’s history and their tally of 16 wins during the league stage has been bettered by only one team in PKL (Gujarat Giants with 17 in Season 6).Â
The key to their incredible success this season has been their defence. The Pirates’ defensive unit need just five tackle points to surpass U Mumba’s tally of 289 from Season 6 and break the record for most tackle points in a single season. The onus of leading Patna’s incredible defence will be on Left Corner Mohammadreza Chiyaneh.
The rookie set a new PKL record with his 10th High 5 in the Pirates’ semi-final win over U.P. Yoddha, surpassing the previous mark set by Surender Nada and Surjeet Singh in Season 5. An 11th will likely lead the Pirates to an unprecedented fourth PKL title.
Standing in Patna’s way are the only team to do the double over them this season.Â
Dabang Delhi beat the Pirates twice in Season 8 and held them to under 30 points in both matches. While they were stellar in both games against the Pirates, they had an up-and-down campaign overall. The defence and Naveen Kumar’s injury hindered them this season, but they managed to overcome both issues and booked their berth in the playoffs with two games to spare.Â
In the semi-final against the Bulls, Delhi’s defence had one of their best outings of the season, as they picked up 11 tackle points. Naveen, after underwhelming outings in his final three league stage appearances, scored 14 points to guide his team to victory. Delhi has the psychological edge over Patna, but they will have to bring their A-game to usurp them in the final. Delhi are 40 minutes away from their maiden VIVO PKL title, but they will have their task cut out to go one better than they did in Season 7.
When and where to watch
Catch all the LIVE action from the Pro Kabaddi Season 8 on the Star Sports Network and LIVE streaming on Disney+Hotstar. You can also follow the latest updates and scores on SportsCafe blog.
Starting 7s
Patna Pirates: Prashanth Kumar Rai, Sachin, Guman Singh, Sajin C, Sunil Kumar, Mohammadreza Shadloui, Neeraj Kumar.
Dabang Delhi: Manjeet Chhillar, Naveen Kumar, Vijay, Neeraj Narwal, Sandeep Narwal, Joginder Narwal, Krishan
