PKL 2022 Eliminator 2: UP Yoddhas vs Tamil Thalaivas Date, Time, Live Streaming, Dream11 Prediction

UP Yoddhas lock horns with Tamil Thalaivas in PKL 2022 Eliminator 2 (Images: PKL)

Bengaluru, December 11: UP Yoddhas and Tamil Thalaivas will hope to keep their elusive title dream alive when they clash in eliminator 2 of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 9 at the Dome, NSCI SVP Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday (December 13).

UP sealed their playoff spot as the fourth-placed team with 71 points, while Thalaivas booked their first-ever playoff spot by finishing fifth with 66 points at the end of the league phase.

Both UP Yoddhas and Tamil Thalaivas will depend on their all-round team work complimented by in-form raiders - Pardeep Narwal, Narender, Ajinkya Pawar and Rohit Tomar.

In Pawan Sehrawat's absence, Narender Hoshiyar has stepped up nig time and dominated in the raiding department for Thalaivas with 220 raid points in 21 matches.

Pardeep Narwal, on the other hand, has continued with his consistent performance in the PKL with 208 raid points in 21 matches. Both the star raiders occupy the fifth and sixth spots in the most raid points table.

The two star raiders will depend on support to be revived off the bench. Narender will get assistance from Ajinkya Pawar, while Pardeep will hope for assistance from Rohit Tomar or Surender Gill.

While raiding has been good, defence seems mixed for both teams. However, one of their meetings earlier this season saw the defenders come out on top.

The Thalaivas defence consists of Sahil Gulia, Sagar, Mohit, M Abhishek, Arpit Saroha and Himanshu. The Yoddhas will look up to the dependable Nitesh Kumar, Sumit and Ashu Singh.

In the two meetings between the two sides earlier this season, UP Yoddhas won 41-24 in the first fixture, while Thalaivas avenged that loss with a 43-28 win in the reverse fixture.

In the first encounter, it was the night of the defenders as Sumit and Ashu Singh starred in UP Yoddhas win, while Sahil Gulia and Himanshu were the best performers for Thalaivas. Even on that night, Pardeep Narwal registered the most raid points.

The second match was, however, the total opposite as UP Yoddhas suffered a loss without star Pardeep Narwal in the night of the raiders with Ajinkya Pawar and Narender helping Thalaivas to seal a playoff spot as Durgesh and Anil Kumar's efforts went in vain for UP.

The winners of the eliminator 2 will face second-placed Puneri Paltan in the second semifinal of PKL 2022 on Thursday (December 15).

Now, let's take a look at the, head-to-head, possible playing 7s and dream11 team for PKL 2022 Eliminator 2 UP Yoddhas vs Tamil Thalaivas:

UP Yoddhas vs Tamil Thalaivas PKL Head-to-Head

In the 12 meetings between the two sides in PKL so far, UP Yoddhas have won five times against Tamil Thalaivas, who have won four such matches, while three matches have ended in ties.

In the last five matches in the lead up to the eliminator, UP Yoddhas have won three and lost two, including the fixture against Tamil Thalaivas, who have won three, lost once and tied once.

PKL 2022 Eliminator 2 UP Yoddhas vs Tamil Thalaivas Predicted Starting 7s

UP Yoddhas Predicted Starting 7: Nitesh Kumar, Rohit Tomar, Gurdeep, Pardeep Narwal, Ashu Singh, Sandeep Narwal, Sumit

Tamil Thalaivas Predicted Starting 7: Sahil Gulia, Himanshu, Ajinky Pawar, Mohit, Narender, M Abhishek, Arpit Saroha

UP Yoddhas vs Tamil Thalaivas Dream11 Best Pick

My Dream11 Team: Nitesh Kumar (Defender - UP), Arpit Saroha (Defender - CHE), Mohit (Defender - CHE), Gurdeep (All Rounder - CHE), Pardeep Narwal (captain/Raider - UP), Ajinkya Pawar (vice-captain/Raider - CHE), M Abhishek (Defender - CHE)

PKL 2022 Eliminator 2 UP Yoddhas vs Tamil Thalaivas Prediction

A close contest to call as both teams have got the better of each other earlier this season. However, Tamil Thalaivas, who have played without star raider Pawan Sehrawat to reach their first-ever playoffs, may be slight favourites heading into the match.

But all will depend on how the defence handles record-breaker Pardeep Narwal. If he is nullified and kept on the bench, Thalaivas can win the match or else, Pardeep can single-handedly get UP across the line.

The same can be said of Narender, who has been in rich-vein of form for Thalaivas. All in all, this could be a closely contested match unlike the one-sided affairs earlier this season.