Pro Kabaddi League 2021: Pardeep Narwal, Surender Gill help UP Yoddha share points with Gujarat Giants

The Yoddha’s, now have 10 points to their kitty and are placed 7th on the points tally. Meanwhile, Gujarat Giants are placed second with 12 points.

UP Yoddha in action against Gujarat Giants; Credit: UP Yoddha
By Karthik Raman | Dec 29, 2021 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

With the help of Pardeep Narwal and Surender Gill, UP Yoddha – the GMR Group owned franchise in the Pro Kabaddi League – on Wednesday earned a thrilling draw against Gujarat Giants. The game that saw UP Yoddha’s star raider Pardeep Narwal earn his career’s 61st super 10 ended in a 32-32 draw as both the teams shared equal points. The Yoddha’s, now have 10 points to their kitty and are placed 7th on the points tally. Meanwhile, Gujarat Giants are placed second with 12 points. Pardeep Narwal led the scoring chart earning 11 raid points, with able support from Surender Gill who earned another 6 points for UP Yoddha. In the other match, Naveen Kumar scored a career-high 24 points to help Dabang Delhi record an emphatic 52-35 win over the Bengal Warriors. 

UP Yoddha as stated by head coach Jasveer Singh ahead of their game, started on a strong note. Star raider Pardeep Narwal drew first blood for the team securing 2 points in his first raid. However, the Yoddha’s gave away a few quick points early on to find them trailing 7-3 in the 7th minute, but it was Surender Gill and Sumit who came to their rescue moments later with a Super Tackle helping them equalize the score. 

UP Yoddha vs Gujarat Giants – An intriguing clash

However, this momentum was short lived as UP Yoddha were inflicted with an All-Out by Gujarat Giants that saw them trailing again at 12-7 in the 9th minute. Thereafter the Giants raced ahead to have a 20-10 lead by the 17th minute. The Yoddha’s thereafter tried making a comeback through Nitesh Kumar and Sumit but couldn’t really manage to reduce the deficit as the first half ended in favour of Gujarat Giants with the scoreboard reading 20-14.

UP Yoddha made a strong comeback in the second half through intelligent raids from Pardeep Narwal and Surender Gill. The Yoddha’s pulled off an All Out on Gujarat Giants in the 25th minute to reduce their deficit to just two points as the scoreboard read 22-20 to the Giants favour. 

Eight minutes later Pardeep Narwal struck hard with his career’s 61st super 10 that saw the Yoddha’s sitting at 29-28 trailing by just a point. This was followed by a hard fought battle on the mat where the Yoddha’s forced the Giants to make mistakes as the game ended in a 32-32 draw.

UP Yoddha will now be back on the mat on January 1st against U Mumba. This game would be broadcast Live, 7:30 PM onwards on the Star Sports Network and Disney Hotstar.