It's now or never for the Jaipur Pink Panthers as they have to somehow turn back their fortunes in the Pro Kabaddi League 2015 as they look ahead to face Bengaluru Bulls on Tuesday.
The defending champions have had a very bitter luck this time as they have now failed to either win or draw a game this year, and have lost all the four games.
The home turf has always proved to be an advantage for the teams, but the Rajasthan side are not really being able to make much use of it. And it is hard to keep the morale going, even so after a massive 11-point defeat at the hands of a visiting team.
Telugu Titans completely hammered the Pink Panthers on Monday, as the Hyderabad-based side won 33-22.
Rajesh Narwal can be referred to as being the only bright spot in the Jaipur side, although he managed to score only nine points. Jasvir Singh, believed to play an instrumental part in the team, could only manage three points.
Titans skipper Rahul Chaudhary was on a different level altogether at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, on Monday. The brilliant raids conducted by him, along with Deepak Hudda and Sukesh Hegde, gave the Hyderabadi side 29-17 lead, which was too big to bridge with five minutes on the clock.
Bengaluru Bulls, currently cementing their place in the third spot of the table, after a comfortable win over Dabang Delhi on Monday, should see no reason to not go into the game with oodles of confidence.
A win by a margin of 15 points is some ask, and the Bulls did exactly that on Monday as they overwhelmed the Delhi side with a 33-18 final score.
Kashiling Adake, Ajay Thakur and defender Somvir Shekhar shone for the Bangalore side, but it was skipper Manjeet Chhillar who stole the limelight.
The 29-year-old all-rounder scored nine raid points and gave a superb showing in the defence to affirm his dominance on the day, to clinch the Best Raider of the Match award.
Jaipur skipper Navneet Gautam is one worried man as he goes ahead to the game on Tuesday.
"We are unable to figure out what is going wrong so far. Maybe we need to re-evaluate our basics and maybe we need to figure out what is going wrong in our practice. I'm being attacked for our losses and the team is being attacked for being poor," Gautam said.
"But this is sport and in sport, no one can be perfect all the time. You have good days and bad days. So far, we have had bad days. But we will have good days very soon," he added.
The match gets underway at 8 pm IST (3:30pm BST).
Previous meeting - 27 August, 2014: Bengaluru Bulls 30 - 29 Jaipur Pink Panthers
Where to Watch Live:
Pro Kabaddi League: Jaipur Pink Panthers vs Bengaluru Bulls, can be caught LIVE on Star Sports.
Hindi Coverage - Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD 3, Star Gold
English Coverage - Star Sports 2, Star Sports HD 2
Telugu Coverage - Maa Movies
Kannada Coverage - Suvarna Plus
Marathi Coverage - Star Pravah (Sunday Matches only)
UK viewers can catch the action on Life OK
Live streaming will be available on Hotstar and starsports online
