PKL 2022 Finals: Clash of Titans between Puneri Paltan and Jaipur Pink Panthers

Three months, 137 games and four cities later, we are in the end game of Pro Kabaddi League Season 9.

Jaipur Pink Panthers and Puneri Paltan will battle it out in the final game for the ultimate prize- The PKL title.

The final will be a battle between the two best teams across the season with Jaipur Pink Panthers finishing the league stage as the table topper while Puneri Paltan finished second.

The stakes are high in this game with Puneri Paltan chasing their first PKL glory while Jaipur Pink Panthers want to end the wait of the past 7 seasons.

PKL 9 Final Preview

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Inaugural champions of the Pro Kabaddi League, Jaipur Pink Panthers will make an appearance in the finals for the third time.

Jaipur has a 50-50 record in the finals winning the first one against U Mumba in season 1 and losing another one to Patna Pirates in season 4.

Jaipur Pink Panthers finished season 9 with 15 wins, 82 points and a huge score difference of 174 points topping the table.

Jaipur has the luxury of having the best raider and defender of season 9 in their ranks with Arjun Deshwal scoring 290 raid points in 23 games and Ankush Rathee scoring 86 tackle points in 23 games.

Jaipur Pink Panthers destroyed Bengaluru Bulls on their way to the finals and the defensive quartet of Sunil Kumar, Sahul Kumar, Reza Mirbagheri and Ankush Rathee scored 21 points in total.

With V Ajith Kumar also coming back in form, Jaipur Pink Panthers are looking ready to take the Puneri Paltan.

Among six losses from the league stage, two of them are against Puneri Paltan and Jaipur will look to win the most important one against them.

Puneri Paltan

The youngest team of the league which is captained by mercurial Fazel Atrachali, Puneri Paltan is functioning like a well-oiled machine this season.

Puneri Paltan is chasing their first title and this is the closest they are to the PKL trophy as their previous best finishes are third-placed finishes in seasons 3 and 4 consecutively.

Puneri Paltan finished in the second position in the points table behind Jaipur Pink Panthers and defeated the inspired Tamil Thalaivas in the semi-finals to set up the summit clash.

Puneri Paltan will be without their main raiders Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat as both of them are nursing injuries, but their bench has great quality and they have stepped up whenever needed.

The Puneri defence is marshalled by Fazel Atrachali and it has Sanket Sawant, Abhinesh Nadarajan and the Iranian all-rounder Md Nabibaksh.

Puneri Paltan has won their last two encounters against Jaipur Pink Panthers and they will take inspiration from it.

Pankaj Mohite and Akash Shinde will have a huge responsibility in terms of raiding against a strong Jaipur Pink Panthers.

Key Battles of PKL 9 Final

Fazel Atrachali v Arjun Deshwal

In an interesting match-up, Arjun Deshwal will have to be careful of Puneri Paltan's captain. Fazel has already scored 53 points this season and his pair with Md Nabibaksh is dangerous for all the raiders.

Arjun Deshwal has been at his best this season with 290 raid points from 23 games. If he manages to keep Fazel Atrachali out of the mat for long, Jaipur Pink Panthers will be benefitted from that.

Puneri Paltan Raiders v Jaipur Pink Panthers Defence

It is a classic raid v defence battle.

Jaipur Pink Panthers are the best defensive unit of the season with 275 tackle points while Puneri Paltan has been reliant on their rich raiding unit with Aslam Inamdar, Mohit Goyat, Pankaj Mohite, Akash Shinde and Aditya Shinde in their ranks.

The game will be won by the unit which performs like a unit with everyone contributing to it.