PKL 9: Bengal Warriors host Patna Pirates in Match 21

The three-time champions are searching for their first win of the season.

Patna Pirates, the three-time champions, have come up short up until now in Pro Kabaddi League PKL season 9. They have many of the same players from the season 8 journey. This season, however, they appear to be lacking in form. While the Warriors after a disappointing season 8, are back on track. The Bengal Warriors have won back-to-back games after a slow start in which they were defeated by the Haryana Steelers.

Team News

Bengal Warriors

Raiders: Maninder Singh (c), Shrikant Jadhav, Akash Pikalmunde, Suyog Gaikar, R Guhan, Parshant Kumar, Aslam Thambi

All-Rounders: Deepak Hooda, Ashish Sangwan, Vinod Kumar, Ajinkya Kapre, Rohit, Manoj Gowda, Balaji D

Defenders: Girish Maruti Ernak, Surender Nada, Amit Sheoran, Parveen Satpal, Shubham Shinde, Sakthivel R, Soleiman Pahlevani, Vaibhav Garje

Patna Pirates

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

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

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

Head to head

Bengal Warriors and Patna Pirates have met in 19 Pro Kabaddi matches. Bengal Warriors have won four of these 19 games, while Patna Pirates have won 12 of them. Three matches ended in a tie.

Players to watch

For the Warriors, their captain and raider Maninder Singh has maintained his strong performance with 29 raid points, including two super raids. He would once again be tasked with doing the bulk of the raiding. On the other hand for the Pirates, raiders Sachin Tanwar and Rohit Gulia have combined for 44 raid points in three games. They too will have to play out of their skin if Patna has to win their first game.

Key to success

Patna Pirates' defence needs to come good. They have a good record against the Bengal Warriors, but their defence appears to be sluggish and erratic this time. If the Pirate defence is to support their raiders, it must improve quickly. As far as the Warriors' are concerned their most valuable asset appears to be their defence. All-rounders Vaibhav Garje, D Balaji, and Shubham Shinde have consistently done well.

Did you know

Mohammadreza Shadloui won the award for the best defender last season in his debut season.

Broadcast - PKL 9

Time: 09:30 PM

Streaming: Star Sports / Disney + Hotstar