PKL 9: Can Bengaluru Bulls hold their position against Patna Pirates?

The Pirates have been knocked out of the tournament.

Bengaluru Bulls became the third team to qualify for the playoffs after defeating UP Yoddhas in the last encounter and will now be eyeing the top 2 spots. Saurabh Nanadal bounced back strongly against UP Yoddhas but the southern side gave away too many points at the fag end of the match.

Patna Pirates' chances of qualifying for the playoffs look very slim after their loss to Puneri Paltan (30-44) in the last encounter. Rohit Gulia’s inconsistency hurt Patna badly as the raider failed to score a single raid point and there was no support to Sachin who scored yet another super 10. 

Team News

Patna Pirates

Raiders: Sachin, Monu, Anand Tomar, Sushil Gulia, Vishwas S, Rohit, Ranjit Naik, Anuj Kumar

Defenders: Neeraj Kumar, Sunil, Thiyagarajan Yuvaraj, Manish, Shivam Chaudhary, Naveen Sharma

All-Rounders: Rohit Gulia, Sajin C, Sager Kumar, Abdul Insamam, Mohammadreza Chiyaneh, Daniel Odhiambo

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

Bengaluru Bulls and Patna Pirates have faced each other 20 times in the Pro Kabaddi League out of which, Bengaluru has won five matches whereas Patna Pirates has come out victorious on 12 occasions with three matches ending in a tie.

Player to watch

Apart from Chiyaneh none of the other defenders has looked consistent. Sunil the right-corner defender started the season on a bright note and was amongst the top 10 in the tackle points list but after the mid-season, the performance has been on a downward curve. Chiyaneh again will have to shoulder the responsibility in defence.

Aman and Saurabh Nandal combo has shown good promise in the recent few matches for Bengaluru Bulls and shall be the going into the playoffs. Aman in particular who was given an extended run by coach Randhir Sehrawat has shown consistency.

Key to Success

Patna needs Rohit Gulia to support Sachin Tawar else it will become very difficult for them to win. Sachin is the kind of raider who can score only 12 points at maximum in a match, unlike the other primary raider who tend to score close to 20 points in a match. So Sachin definitely needs support in the raiding department.

Vikash Kandola looked confident in the last encounter against UP Yoddhas and scored six raid points. He played the exact role what the coach would have expected and supported Bharat which he shall look to continue in the upcoming matches.

Did you know

Monu the all-rounder from Patna Pirates recently breached the 100 raid points mark in his 86th match at the  Pro Kabaddi League.

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