Brimming with confidence and pumped up after a dominant performance against Tamil Thalaivas, we proceed as a headstrong bunch to meet Patna Pirates in our second game of VIVO ProKabaddi Season 6. The fact that the Thalaivas had torn the Pirates apart on the inaugural night of ProKabaddi boosts our credence of our potential furthermore.

Pitted as one of the strongest contenders this season, the Pirates’ journey did not have the start expected, as the squad collapsed to a 42-26 defeat to the hosts at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai. It was more of a Pardeep Narwal-Manjeet night for the Pirates who brought the side 11 and 8 raid points respectively. The defenders looked bleak, with none scoring more than one tackle point.

On the other hand, against the same opponents, our Yoddha were off to a perfect start, not letting them score their first points till the 12th minute of the match. We registered an 18-4 scoreline at half-time against the potential threat that lay in form of a seasoned bunch of Thalaivas. Though the home side recurred attempts to take the lead, they were denied by our skillful Yoddhas, who were in the driver’s seat throughout the 40 minutes of action in their first game of this season.

However, there are loose ends we need to tie. We need to hold onto the dominance we effect on the opponents, something that caused tension against Thalaivas when they got us All Out despite being way behind. We need controlled passion to make our already stunning performance even better and step closer to perfection.

Prashanth Kumar Rai, Shrikant Jadhav and of course, our captain Rishank Devadiga, are the three raiders whom we look up to for leading the points chart and guiding the course of the game to an end in our favour. But it is the defenders and all-rounders who complete the action, with their determination to back the force up. 10 of our 37 points against the Thalaivas were scored in tackles, which constitutes a big part of our victory and we would love to see a repeat of what our Yoddha did as a unit on the mat.

Head to head:

UP Yoddha 1 – 1 Patna Pirates (1 match tied)