PKL 9: Bengal Warriors, Gujarat Giants to battle for a play-offs position

Maninder Singh has at least 18 points in each of his last three outings.

Gujarat Giants after a five-day break will be up against Bengal Warriors. Gujarat won their last encounter against Bengaluru Bulls (46-44) with both Rakesh Kumar and Partheek Dahiya scoring super 10s. Rakesh after a dip in form for a few games was back to form scoring 10 raid points. Gujarat Giants will take on Maninder Singh's Bengal Warriors in PKL 9.

Bengal Warriors tied their last encounter against UP Yoddhas (41-41) with Maninder Singh scoring the majority of the points. The 32-year-old star raider scored 18 raid points which is almost half the team's score. 

Team News

Gujarat Giants

Raiders: Chandran Ranjit, Mahendra Rajput, Dong Geon Lee, Purna Singh, Sonu, Pardeep Kumar, Rakesh, Gaurav Chhikara, Sohit, Sonu Singh, Sawin

All-Rounders: Arkam Shaikh, Parteek Dhaiya, Rohan Singh, Shankar Gadai

Defenders: Vinod Kumar, Young Chang Ko, Rinku Narwal, Baldev Singh, Sourav Gulia, Sandeep Kandola, Manuj, Kapil, Ujjval Singh

Bengal Warriors

Raiders: Maninder Singh (c), Shrikant Jadhav, Akash Pikalmunde, Suyog Gaikar, R Guhan, Parshant Kumar, Aslam Thambi,

Defenders: Girish Maruti Ernak,  Surender Nada, Amit Sheoran, Parveen Satpal, Shubham Shinde, Sakthivel R, Soleiman Pahlevani, Vaibhav Garje,

All-Rounders: Deepak Hooda, Ashish Sangwan, Vinod Kumar, Ajinkya Kapre, Rohit, Manoj Gowda, Balaji D

Head to Head

Gujarat Giants and Bengal Warriors have faced other eight times in the Pro Kabaddi League out of which, Gujarat Giants have won three whereas Bengal Warriors have come out victorious on three occasions with two matches ending in a tie. 

Player to watch

Girish Maruthi Ernak was exceptional in the initial games of Pro Kabaddi season 9 but lost the plot in the latter half of the season. In a few matches, he single-handedly scored the majority of the tackle points and even finish his high 5 in the first half itself. He will be up against two top most raiders from Gujarat Giant Rakesh and Partheek. 

Rinku Narwal will be the experienced defender in the Sourav Gulia in the absence of injury. In the past few matches, it was difficult for teams to stop Maninder Singh to stop scoring raiding points and it will be hard for the inexperienced defending unit of Gujarat to stop the experienced raider. Rinku needs to step up and take responsibility.

Key to Success

Deepak Niwas Hooda and Shrikanth Jadhav need to support Maninder Singh in the raiding department. The Bengal side completely loses the plot when Maninder fails to perform and also in the last few matches the side gives away too many points in the first half itself which needs to be avoided against Gujarat Giants.

The duo of Rakesh Kumar and Partheek Dahiya will be key for the western side's victory against Bengal Warriors. They shall be wary of the threat of Girish Ernak and Vaibhav Garje who have looked solid in the first half of the season. 

Did you know

Maninder Singh is the only raider currently to feature in the top 20 of the most raid points list in Pro Kabaddi League season 9.

Broadcast - PKL 9

Time - 07:30 PM

Streaming - Star Sports / Disney + Hotstar