Thakur’s Thalaivas clash with defending champions Patna in season-opener #ProKabaddiIndia #LePanga

VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 6 will see two big fixtures as Tamil Thalaivas will play host to three-time time champions Patna Pirates while the first Maharashtra Derby of the season will see Fazel Atrachali’s U Mumba clash with Girish Maruti Ernak’s Puneri Paltan in a battle of the defences. The contests promise a lot of excitement and here is what you can expect:
Match 1 – Tamil Thalaivas vs Patna Pirates

Head-to-head: Tamil Thalaivas 1 – 2 Patna Pirates

The season will kick off with hosts Tamil Thalaivas taking on three-time champions Patna Pirates in the season opener. It will be an interesting contest particularly keeping in mind that Patna Pirates will come into the match on the back of a five-game unbeaten streak in the closing stages of Season 5 which saw them lift the trophy. But interestingly their last loss came at the hand of Tamil Thalaivas in Match 124 of Season 5. The Thalaivas also hold an advantage as the host team has won opening game in four out of the five seasons held so far.

With big names like Ajay Thakur, Manjeet Chhillar and Jasvir Singh in their ranks, the Thalaivas have a bank of experience to draw from. They also have good pressure raiders like Sukesh Hegde and Surjeet Singh to further strengthen the raiding department. In defence Amit Hooda will combine with youngsters Darshan J. and C. Arun, both of whom impressed in Season 5. All-rounder D. Pradap also displayed a good fighting spirit in his Season 5 debut and it will be interesting to see how he develops in the coming season.

Patna Pirates will once again look to captain Pardeep Narwal to steer their ship. If he strikes form early, then it will spell doom for the other teams. In the absence of the impressive Monu Goyat, Deepak Narwal and Surender Singh will be filling in his shoes as the secondary raiders. Manish, Jaideep, Jawahar Dagar and Vijay will once again be leading the defence for the Pirates and the addition of Kuldeep Singh will give the defence that bit of added strength that the team has been missing in the previous season.