Chennai, August 21: Bottom side Puneri Paltan will look to get a much-needed win when they face Bengaluru Bulls in Pro Kabaddi League 2019 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday (August 21).
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Puneri Paltan played out an entertaining draw in their last outing against Tamil Thalaivas. The defending champions, meanwhile, will be confident about registering back-to-back wins in Chennai having already gotten the better of hosts Tamil Thalaivas at the venue.
Puneri Paltan looked on course for a win but allowed Tamil Thalaivas a way back into the contest in the closing stages and had to settle for a tie. Coach Anup Kumar made it clear that he wasn't happy with the result and will hope that his players will make amends against Bengaluru Bulls.
That said, there were plenty of positives to take from the tie but perhaps none more so than the performance of Surjeet Singh. The Puneri Paltan skipper returned to form in style with seven tackle points and he'll be hoping to put in a similar display against Bengaluru Bulls.
Every dark cloud has a silver lining.
— ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) August 20, 2019
Is Pankaj Mohite the silver lining in @PuneriPaltan's cloud?
To find out, watch #PUNvBLR, tomorrow, 7 PM onwards, LIVE on Star Sports and Hotstar. #IsseToughKuchNahi #VIVOProKabaddi pic.twitter.com/ODJfJbk8iW
With defenders like Hadi Tajik and Girish Ernak also in their ranks, it's fair to assume that Bengaluru Bulls' raiders will be tested. As far as Puneri Paltan's offence is concerned, Pankaj Mohite has been the team's leading raid points scorer (38). He along with Nitin Tomar and Manjeet will have to shoulder most of the responsibility in attack.
Bengaluru Bulls, who got back to winning ways in their last encounter, on the other hand, will be looking to keep that winning momentum at the expense of Puneri Paltan.
To keep the streak intact, the Bulls will pin their hopes on Pawan 'Hi-Flyer' Sehrawat as he's the league's leading raid points scorer (98) at the moment and is likely to become the first player to breach the 100 points barrier this season against Puneri Paltan.
So, keeping him as well as skipper Rohit Kumar quiet will be crucial to Puneri Paltan's hopes of a victory.
🎵 Aaj mai upar... defenders neeche 🎵
— ProKabaddi (@ProKabaddi) August 20, 2019
Watch Pawan Sehrawat speak about the moment he became THE Hi-Flyer we all know and love!
Enjoy this and catch him in #PUNvBLR action tomorrow, 7 PM onwards, LIVE on Star Sports and Hotstar. #IsseToughKuchNahi pic.twitter.com/xB2grc2lko
Bengaluru Bulls' defence has also shown that they are capable of holding their own against top quality raiders this season.
Even though Mahender Singh is their leading tackle points scorer, their defence isn't by any means reliant on any individual, such is the depth of the squad in that department.
Amit Sheoran, Ankit, Saurabh Nandal and Vijay Kumar showed how good they can be against Ajay 'Iceman' Thakur as well as Rahul 'Showman' Chaudhari in Bengaluru Bulls' last game and they'll be hoping to have a similar sort of impact against Puneri Paltan on Wednesday (August 21).
With five victories each in their previous meetings at Pro Kabaddi, we could be in for a close contest despite the current form. So, who will have the last laugh? Pawan Sehrawat or Surjeet Singh? Find out tonight.
Game starts at 7.30 PM IST
Live Channel: Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 2HD
Live Stream: HotStar
Source: Pro Kabaddi