Bengaluru, January 23: Bengaluru Bulls and Telugu Titans will look to bounce back from defeats when they clash in game 2 on Sunday (January 23) in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 2021-22 at the Sheraton Grand Whitefield in Bengaluru.
Although Bengaluru Bulls suffered their third defeat in a row, they still sit in the second position in PKL season 8 points table with 41 points in 13 matches. Telugu Titans, on the other hand, secured their first win of the season, but the bottom-placed side followed up with a demoralising defeat.
In their most recent outing in PKL, following on from their defeats to Patna Pirates and Bengal Warriors, Bengaluru Bulls lost 35-37 to Puneri Paltan, while Telugu Titans lost 35-42 to U Mumba and have mustered just 18 points in 12 matches.
PKL 2021-22 Points Table | Results | Fixtures
Overall, the two sides have met 17 times with Bengaluru Bulls winning 11 times and Titans winning 3 times, while 3 matches including the reverse fixture earlier this season has ended in a tie.
The last time they met, the game ended 34-34 after Pawan Sehrawat pulled off a thigh hold tackle on former Bulls' captain Rohit Kumar in the dying seconds of the match to level the scores.
Siddharth Desai has missed most of the season so far for Titans, but the likes of Ankit Beniwal, Rakesh Gowda, T Adarsh and especially Rajnish have helped when it comes to raiding.
The defence, however, has failed to score consistently despite the presence of Sandeep Kandola, Surinder Singh, Ruturaj Koravi, Prince D and Akash Choudhary. They will need to be at their top when they face someone like Pawan Sehrawat.
Bulls are over-reliant on captain and star raider Pawan Sehrawat. And when he is off the mat, they feel subdued and the defence or the support raiders have failed to revive him in recent matches.
Bengaluru's Bharat and Chandran Ranjit have donned the secondary raider roles, but have often failed to revive Pawan Sehrawat. Bharat, however, has been impressive, using his lanky body to pick bonus points and woo touches.
In Bulls' defence, Saurabh Nandal and Mahender Singh have been in good shape for the Season 6 winners. Saurabh's success has been down to his powerful holds. He has stopped most raiders who have tried jumping above him - a trap set up by kneeling down early to entice the attackers.
The raiders should hence look for a feint than take the predictable move over his top. Aman also on the right corner has shown glimpses of form, but the rest have failed to perform consistently when called upon like Mohit Sehrawat, Mayur Kadam or Ankit.
Dream11 Predicted Starting 7s
Telugu Titans: Rajnish, Ankit Beniwal, Prince D, Akash Choudhary, Surinder Singh, Sandeep Kandola, T Adarsh
Bengaluru Bulls: Pawan Sehrawat, Bharat, Deepak Narwal/Chandran Ranjit, Mahender Singh, Aman, Saurabh Nandal, Mayur Kadam
MyDream11 Starting 7: Pawan Sehrawat (captain) (Raider - BLR), Bharat (All-rounder - BLR), Adarsh T (vice-captain) (All-rounder - TT), Saurabh Nandal (Defender - BLR), Aman (Defender - BLR), Mahender Singh (Defender - BLR), Surinder Singh (Defender - TT)
Match Details
Telugu Titans vs Bengaluru Bulls
Date and start time: Sunday (January 23) at 8:30 PM IST
Live Channel: Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 2HD
Live Streaming: Disney+HotStar