PKL 9: Bengaluru Bulls, Puneri Paltan clash for top spot in points table

Bharat and Aslam Inamdar are the key players for their respective teams.

Bengaluru Bulls, after a good outing in the Pune Leg, have started the PKL 9 third leg in Hyderabad with a bang, defeating Gujarat Giants (45-38). With this win, Bengaluru Bulls have regained their top spot from Puneri Paltan. It will be the battle for the top spot and whichever team wins will stay firm in the first position.

Puneri Paltan won their last encounter comfortably against Haryana Steelers (41-28) with the defenders not allowing the opposition raiders to settle down. Abhilash Nadarajan at the covers was highly engaging putting up a good fight along with captain Fazel Athrachali and all-rounder Aslam Inamdar. 

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

Puneri Paltan

Raiders: Aslam Inamdar, Mohit Goyat, Pankaj Mohite, Akash Shinde, Shubham Shelke, Aditya Shinde

All-Rounders: Mohammad Nabibakhsh, Balasaheb Jadhav, Govind Gurjar

Defenders: Sanket Sawant, Fazel Atrachali, Abinesh Nadarajan, Sombir, D Mahindra Prasad, Badal Singh, Alankar Patil, Rakesh Ram

Head-to-Head

Puneri Paltan and Bengaluru Bulls have faced each other 15 times in Pro Kabaddi League history. Bengaluru Bulls have won seven of those meetings, whereas Puneri Paltan has come out victorious on eight occasions.

Player to watch

Aslam Inamdar is turning out to be a proper all-rounder for Puneri Paltan. In his debut season last year, Aslam scored 20+ tackle points along with showing good consistency in raiding. In the last match against Haryana, Aslam Inamdar scored three tackles and seven raid points putting in equivalent effort in both departments. 

Bharat soared to the top of the raiding points chart after scoring 18 points in the last encounter. He will have a good chance to widen the lead against Puneri Paltan. With Vikash Kandola not firing it will be up to Bharat, along with secondary raider Neeraj Narwal, to score maximum points against a strong defensive side.

Key to Success

The Bengaluru Bulls' defence has not been consistent throughout the league. In the last encounter, both the left and right corner defenders attempted too many unsuccessful tackles. If they continue the same against Puneri Paltan, it will be very difficult to get back into the game. The corner duo needs to be wary of Mohit Goyat and Akash Shinde who have the ability to steal bonus points.

Puneri Paltan should look to minimize the threat of Bharat and Neeraj Narwal who have been the backbone of the raiding department. Bharat in the past has single-handedly won games. His battle against Paltan skipper Fazel Athrachali will be interesting with both in great form. If Puneri Paltan evades the threat of Bharat, they will definitely be ahead in the encounter.

Did you know?

Mahender Singh of Bengaluru Bulls is two points away from reaching the 250-point mark. He is also five points away from reaching the 250 tackles points mark.

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