PKL 2019, Match 8 preview: Siddharth Desai look to find form against Delhi

On Day 4 of VIVO Pro Kabaddi League, PKL 2019, Telugu Titans will lock horns with Dabang Delhi in Match 8 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad. Telugu Titans' star raider Siddharth Desai will look to get back into scoring raid points after a rough start in Pro Kabaddi 2019. Telugu Titans replaced their former star Rahul Chaudhari with Siddharth Desai this season, buying him for 1.45 crores in the auction. In two matches Chaudhari has scored only 10 raid points from 27 raids. In comparison, last season, in his very first match, he scored 15 raid points. He has not been able to get off to a good start and has struggled in the 1st half of both matches.
 
Check Pro Kabaddi schedule and points table here

Player battle

Defender Ravindra Pahal vs Raider Siddharth Desai

Dabang Delhi will play their first match of Pro Kabaddi League 2019 and will look to continue what U Mumba and Tamil Thalaivas have done against Siddharth Desai by restricting him to very few raid points. Delhi have a vastly experienced defensive unit – Ravindra Pahal (89), Vishal Mane (104) and Joginder Narwal (60) have played 253 matches among them in Pro Kabaddi League history.
 
However, Siddharth Desai scored 40 raid point against Dabang Delhi with an average of 13.3 raid points last season. The Delhi defence is largely the same as compared to last season and Siddharth will relish facing them again. He has a 5-3 record against their left corner Joginder Narwal. He has a 5-1 record against their right corner Ravinder Pahal and left cover Vishal Mane. Joginder Narwal is the only Delhi defender to tackle him more than once.
 
Telugu Titans vs Dabang Delhi head to head
 
In head to head comparison, Telugu Titans have a huge advantage against Dabang Delhi with 8 wins out of 10 matches. Telugu Titans' win percentage of 80 against Dabang Delhi is their best against any opposition in Pro Kabaddi history. The only game that Delhi won against Titans was in the last season.

Head to head (last five matches)

Match No.	Telugu Titans	Dabang Delhi	Result
PKL 6, Match 95	29	34	Dabang Delhi won by 5 points
PKL 5, Match 99	44	22	Telugu Titans won by 22 points
PKL 4, Match 41	36	28	Telugu Titans won by 8 points
PKL 4, Match 27	28	23	Telugu Titans won by 5 points
PKL 3, Match 43	44	36	Telugu Titans won by 8 points

 

Telugu Titans vs Dabang Delhi probable starting seven

Telugu Titans	Vs	Dabang Delhi
Abozar Mighani ©	Right Corner	Ravinder Pahal
Kamal Singh	Right In	Naveen Kumar
Farhad Milaghardan	Right Cover	Vishal Mane
Siddharth Desai	Center	Meraj Sheykh
C. Arun	Left Cover	Anil Kumar
Rajnish	Left In	Chandran Ranjit
Vishal Bharadwaj	Left Corner	Joginder Narwal ©