PKL 9: Gujarat Giants face an enormous challenge in Bharat's Bengaluru Bulls

The team from the south will look to reclaim their top spot in the table.

Gujarat Giants has lost the last two encounters and have slid down to the ninth place in the points table. Chandran Ranjith the captain of Gujarat Giants after an injury was back to playing 7 against Bengal Warriors where the team lost by a five-point margin (40-45). Two-star defenders Sourav Gulia and Rinku did not start the match but the latter was brought in as a substitute later in the match. Gujarat Giants' next game will be against Bengaluru Bulls in PKL 9.

Bengaluru Bulls after a three-day break will look to start fresh after losing to Haryana Steelers in a tightly contested match (27-29). Bharat as usual was the star in the raiding department scoring a super 10. Vikash Kandola the star raider could only score a single point in a low-scoring encounter.

Team News

Bengaluru Bulls

Raiders: Vikash Kandola, More G B, Lala Mohar Yadav, Neeraj Narwal, Harmanjit Singh, Bharat, Nageshor Tharu

Defenders: Mahender Singh(c), Saurabh Nandal, Mayur Kadam, Sudhakar Krishant, Rohit Kumar, Vinod Naik, Aman, Rajnesh, Yash Hooda

All-Rounders: Sachin Narwal, Rahul Khatik

Gujarat Giants

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

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

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

Head to Head

Raiders: Vikash Kandola, More G B, Lala Mohar Yadav, Neeraj Narwal, Harmanjit Singh, Bharat, Nageshor Tharu

Defenders: Mahender Singh(c), Saurabh Nandal, Mayur Kadam, Sudhakar Krishant, Rohit Kumar, Vinod Naik, Aman, Rajnesh, Yash Hooda

All-Rounders: Sachin Narwal, Rahul Khatik

Head to Head

Bengaluru Bulls and Gujarat Giants have faced each other nine times in the Pro Kabaddi League out of which, Bengaluru has won four matches and Gujarat Giants has come out victorious on other six occasions with one game ending in a tie.

Player to watch

Rakesh Kumar after an excellent start to the PKL 9 season scoring super 10s consistently has not had the same form for the past few matches. Rakesh in the initial matches scored most of the raid points but now has lost rhythm. Partheek Dahiya has taken over his role and has scored two consecutive super 10s. If Rakesh is able to get back to his old form then the duo of Rakesh and Partheek Dahiya can be a threat to any PKL franchise.

Saurabh Nandal is currently in the 2nd position in the tackle points table and has been scoring points consistently. Rakesh Kumar if back to form will be a huge threat but being a right raider along with Partheek Nandal has to plan accordingly and keep both raiders off the mat. Chandran Ranjith is back from an injury and shall not be a threat given his previous performances.

Key to Success

If Bengaluru Bulls finds a good partner for Bharat then definitely the team can become stronger. Neeraj Kumar was good at the start of the season but has not been given enough raids to prove himself as a tertiary raider. It is high time for Vikash Kandola to perform well consistently else Bharat alone cannot take care of the raiding department. The southern side is inside the playoffs spot and needs to hold on to their spot.

Both Sourav Gulia and Rinku were not in the playing 7 in the last encounter. Both have been instrumental in the defence section with Sourav inside the top 10 of the tackle points table. In the absence of the star defender, Gujarat needs to adapt and stop Bharat from scoring which can slow down the Bengaluru Bull's scoring rate. WIth Vikash and Neeraj not in good form the young defending duo need to step up and put in a good fight. 

Did you know

Vikash Kandola from Bengaluru is four points short of reaching the 750 points ( raiding + defence).

Broadcast - PKL 9

Time - 07:30 PM

Streaming - Star Sports / Disney + Hotstar