PKL 9: Bengal Warriors eye for top six spot against Tamil Thalaivas

Maninder Singh will look to continue his excellent form.

Bengal Warriors has started the Hyderabad leg of PKL 9 on a positive note defeating Telugu Titans in front of their home crowd (36-28). Maninder Singh as always was the star scoring 12 raid points and getting good support from secondary raider Shrikant Jadhav. The corner duo of Subham and Girish Ernak combined to perform well after a long time.  

Tamil Thaliavas are coming into this encounter after a tie against Patna Pirates (33-33) and will be looking to make it to the playoffs for the first time since their inception in season 5. Narender Kandola after scoring a super 10 was also involved in the defence section scoring a crucial tackle point to earn a tie after trailing in the last five minutes.

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

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

Head to Head

Tamil Thalaivas and Bengal Warriors have faced each other 11 times in the Pro Kabaddi League out of which, Bengal Warriors have won nine matches whereas Tamil Thalaivas has come out victorious on only one occasion with one match ending in a tie.

Player to watch

Maninder Singh scored 18 points the last time Bengal Warriors met Tamil Thalaivas which ended in a tie. The 32-year-old last time started of slowly and caught up pace in the 2nd half but this time should look to score from the start to put Tamil Thalaivas defenders on the back foot and put them under pressure with the cover duo prone to unsuccessful tackles.

Sahil Gulia will be up against mighty Maninder Singh the raider will look to attack the left-corner defender frequently. Sahil Gulia started the season well but then lost pace and couldn't score tackle points consistently. This will be a proper test for Sahil and if he succeeds Tamil Thalaivas will be on the top.

Key to Success

Tamil Thalaivas were leading by more than 10 points at the end of the first half when both teams met las time but went on to tie the match due to the pressure put by Maninder Singh. In the last match against Patna, Tamil Thaalaivas scored eight points in the last five minutes and tied the match after trailing by five points. Similarly, the southern franchise must put pressure on Bengal Warriors in the second half and perform according to the plan.

Bengal Warriors always play the catching game after trailing in the first half and then catching up in the second half. With Tamil Thalaivas improving slowly Bengal should look to score from the start itself and not allow Narender Kandola to score away free points which he often does.

Did you know

Ajinkya Pawar from Tamil Thalaivas is just four points away from getting to the 250 raid points mark in the Pro Kabaddi League.

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