“Pardeep Narwal is not injured” – Nitesh Kumar talks about Pardeep’s slow movements in Pro Kabaddi 2021

UP Yoddha captain Nitesh Kumar has clarified that his team’s star raider Pardeep Narwal is not injured.

Fans felt Pardeep was carrying an injury because he did not seem as flexible and agile as before. The Record Breaker managed to score only three raid points in the Pro Kabaddi 2021 match against Jaipur Pink Panthers on Monday.

Speaking to reporters after his team’s 29-32 defeat to the Jaipur Pink Panthers, Nitesh Kumar insisted that the 24-year-old is fully fit.

“No, Pardeep Narwal is not injured, but I think his movements were a little slow,” he said. “He is fully fit. Hopefully, he will improve his performance in the next game.”

Pardeep Narwal could not properly support Surender Gill in the match against the Jaipur Pink Panthers. Gill tried his best to save the day for UP Yoddha with a Super 10, but his effort went in vain.

The defense did not play as a unit tonight: UP Yoddha captain Nitesh Kumar

While Surender Gill and Rohit Tomar scored raid points for UP Yoddha despite Pardeep Narwal’s struggle, the defenders could not back the raiders well. UP Yoddha have Nitesh Kumar and Sumit as their corner defenders. The two players scored more than 70 tackle points each in the last season.

However, in the game against the Jaipur Pink Panthers, Nitesh and Sumit scored a total of three points only.

Commenting on the poor performance of the defense, Nitesh said:

“Yes, I think the defense did not play as a unit tonight. There were 6-7 occasions like that in the match. We tried advanced tackles, but we will not commit the same mistake in the next matches.”

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UP Yoddha will play their next match against Gujarat Giants on December 29. It would be interesting to see if Nitesh Kumar and Co. can make a comeback.