PKL 9: Bengaluru Bulls will look to top table against Tamil Thalaivas

The game will have the two best newcomer raiders of the league face-off against each other.

Tamil Thalaivas lost a close encounter against Puneri Paltan (34-35) after leading for the majority of the match. Tamil Thalaivas in the past to have scored the majority of points in the first half but under pressure lose points with the opposition taking advantage. Narender Kandola scored yet another super 10. Tamil Thalaivas will next play Bengaluru Bulls in the next PKL 9 game.

Bengaluru Bulls are coming into this encounter after a three-day break and also a close victory in the last match against Haryana Steelers. Bharat had an off day scoring only four raid points with Neeraj Narwal taking over the primary raider’s role and scoring nine points. Manender Singh scored the first high 5 of season 9.

Team News

Tamil Thalaivas

Raiders: Pawan Sehrawat, Ajinkya Ashok Pawar, Himanshu, Jatin, Himanshu

All-rounders: Thanushan Laxmamohan, Visvanath V, K Abhimanyu

Defenders: Sagar, Sahil, M Abishek, Mohit, Himanshu, Ashish, Md Arif Rabbani, Arpit Saroha, Ankit

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

Head to Head

Tamil Thalaivas and Bengaluru Bulls have faced each other 11 times at the Pro Kabaddi League out of which, Bengaluru Bulls have won nine matches whereas Tamil Thalaivas have come out victorious on only two occasions.

Player to watch

Neeraj Narwal in the last few matches has scored with par along with star raider Bharat. In the last match against Haryana Steelers, Neeraj Narwal’s performance was instrumental in Bengaluru’s win. With the presence of Vikash Kandola, he has taken over the secondary raiders' role and is performing his role very well.

Narender Kandola will play a vital role in the left flank and will test Aman from Bengaluru Bulls. Aman has been inconsistent and the youngster shall make use of this opportunity and try to score and attack Aman more. 

Key to Success

Tamil Thalaivas' raiding department majorly consists of left raiders and Bengaluru Bulls left corner defender has not been very successful in that region. Both Narender and Ajinkya Pawar need to target the left flank and avoid being tackled by Manender Singh and Saurabh Nandal two experienced defenders from the right side.

Bengaluru Bulls raiders on the other hand have to target the cover combo of Mohit and Abhishek. Both the corner duo have the majority of unsuccessful tackles from Tamil Thalaivas and Bengaluru should look to take advantage of this. Mohit in particular has not had a great season apart from scoring one high 5.

Did you know

Bharat is six points away from reaching the 250 raid points mark in the Pro Kabaddi League.

Broadcast - PKL 9

Time - 08:30 PM

Streaming - Star Sports / Disney + Hotstar