PKL 9: Bengal Warriors will look to enter top six against UP Yoddhas

All eyes will be on the duo of Pardeep Narwal and Sandeep Narwal.

Bengal Warriors lost the last encounter to U Mumba (41-49) and with this loss has moved down to the 7th position just outside the playoffs spot of PKL 9. Mighty Maninder scored his 12th super 10 of the season but that wasn't enough to get his team through against a strong U Mumba defence. Bengal Warriors have lost three out of the last five matches and this has been the case throughout the season not showing consistency.

UP Yoddhas won a close match against Patna Pirates (35-33) with Pardeep Narwal scoring 15 points. Sandeep Narwal was back to the mat after being brought in as a replacement in the middle of the league stage and the star all-rounder scored five points contributing both in attack and defence.

Team News

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

UP Yoddhas 

Raiders: Pardeep Narwal, Surender Gill, Nitin Tomar, Anil Kumar, Mahipal, Rohit Tomar, Aman, Durgesh Kumar, Rathan K, Gulveer Singh

All-Rounders: Gurdeep, Nehal Desai, Nitin Panwar

Defenders: Nitesh Kumar, Sumit, Ashu Singh, Shubham Kumar, Abozar Mohajermighani, Babu M, Jaideep

Head to Head

UP Yoddhas and Bengal Warriors have faced each other 11 times in the Pro Kabaddi League out of which, UP Yoddhas have won three matches and Bengal Warriors have come out victorious on four occasions with four matches ending in a tie.

Player to watch

Sandeep Narwal after a long gap has started on a positive note scoring five points overall. In the initial days, he was known for both his attacking and defensive skills and would tackle the raider single handedly with his trademark back hold. If required Sandeep can prove to be versatile as he can play in the right corner position giving the coach the added advantage.

Vaibhav Garje in the right corner will be up against Dubki king Pardeep Narwal who has been the lead raider in the absence of injured Surender Gill and has been performing the role well. Vaibhav Garje has been involved in too many advanced tackles but now needs to be careful against Pardeep.

Key to Success

Deepak Niwas Hooda has not had a good season not performing well in both the attack and defence sections. The star all-rounder needs to prove himself and with the experience, he has got it is the right time for him to showcase his skills and help Bengal Warriors in balancing the starting 7.

Pardeep Narwal needs to continue in the same manner and with the uncertainty of Surender Gill Pardeep needs to take added responsibility. The corner duo of Sumit and Nitesh need to combine well and tackle Maninder Singh who will a huge threat.

Did you know

Sandeep Narwal breached the 350 tackle points barrier in his 150th match at the Pro Kabaddi League.

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