Pro Kabaddi League 2019: Preview: Gujarat Fortunegiants, Patna Pirates play for pride

Bengaluru, October 5: Gujarat Fortunegiants and Patna Pirates clash in Pro Kabaddi League 2019 at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida on Saturday (October 5).

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Neither team are in contention for a spot in the playoffs but will, nevertheless, look to finish their campaign on a positive note.

In their previous match Haryana Steelers knocked Gujarat Fortunegiants out of contention for a spot in the playoffs. Patna Pirates, on the other hand, suffered their third successive loss when they met U Mumba.

The two-time finalists Gujarat have failed to make it to the playoffs for the first time in team history but coach Manpreet Singh and his men will want to put in a strong showing in their final two matches of the season.

Raider Rohit Gulia, who has skippered the side in the past few games, has been the team's most successful raider this season with 118 raid points, but the lack of form and the absence of Sachin Tanwar has hurt Gujarat Fortunegiants' raiding unit quite a bit in this campaign.

In defence, Cover defender Parvesh Bhainswal has found some form of late, but he too has endured a difficult campaign overall. Coach Manpreet opted to field some new faces against Haryana Steelers and there is a good chance that he would do that against Patna Pirates.

Patna Pirates, meanwhile, have mirrored their run from the previous campaign as 'Record-Breaker' Pardeep Narwal enjoyed another incredible season but the rest of the team failed to impress.

The raiding unit, especially, has been heavily reliant on Pardeep, with only Jang Kun Lee providing some support to the skipper. The defence, too, has been lacklustre and is averaging just under 10 tackle points a game.

Patna Pirates have failed to make the playoffs for the second season running after qualifying in each of the first five campaigns and coach Ram Mehar Singh will certainly be disappointed by the team's showing this season.

With a spot in the playoffs out of the equation, Patna Pirates may want to give some of their bench players an opportunity to showcase their ability. The likes of Monu and Amit Kumar, who have featured sparingly this season, might get a few more opportunities in the upcoming matches.

And while the team will be looking at the next two matches as a platform to build for the future, Pardeep will be aiming to score as many raid points as he can to stand a chance to win his third straight Best Raider Award.

Game starts at 8.30 PM IST

Live Channel: Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 2HD

Live Stream: HotStar

Source: Pro Kabaddi