Opinion: Why Bengaluru Bulls are favourites to win Pro Kabaddi League 2018
The first month of Pro Kabaddi League season 6 has come to an end with all the teams sweating it out for the top spot in their respective zones.
Unlike the previous seasons, every team has looked strong in this edition which has made the competition even more exciting.
Bengaluru Bulls have been won six of their first seven matches this season. They are on the top of the Zone B leaderboard with 31 points in seven matches and with a healthy score difference of 44. Their only defeat came against Puneri Paltan and that too by a very small margin of 2 points.
With a good combination of young stars and experience, they will surely be hoping to repeat the heroics of season two and even try and win the league this time around. They are also placed on the top poisition of the PKL 6 Points Table in the Zone B.
Let us look at some of the reasons which gives fans a hope for a typical Bengaluru Bulls show this year.
All the stats for the article have been taken from prokabaddi.com
A Strong Raiding Trio
Bengaluru Bulls have got a very strong raiding trio in the form of Pawan Sehrawat, Rohit Kumar and Kashiling Adake.
All three have delivered points whenever needed. The experience of Rohit and Kashiling Adake and their ability to deal with the pressure situations effectively makes them even more dangerous.
This was visible when Rohit Kumar fought alone and prevented them from getting all-out against UP Yoddha by getting touch points and even doing a super raid to level the scores.
And not to be left behind, the fearlessness of young Pawan has even made him a competitor for the best raider of the season.
He took a point in the last raid of the match between Patna Pirates and Bengaluru Bulls which helped the team to edge Patna 43-41.
Not to forget, the raid was a do-or die one. Due to their phenomenal performances, Bengaluru Bulls have a raid point average of 23.86 (after first 7 matches) which is the best of all the teams.
A Good Defence to Restrict Opposition Raiders
Bengaluru Bulls lacked a good defense in the previous seasons, but it seems that they have finally found a good one now.
With 75 tackle points in the first seven matches at an average of 10.71 per match, there has been a good show by their defence.
Mahendar Singh and Ashish Kumar have been their top defender so far with 18 tackle points each. Surprisingly, Kashling Adake and Pawan Sehrawat- two of their main raiders have also contributed in defense which has made the team even more flexible.
Kashiling Adake has taken 13 tackle points and is the third best defender right now for Bengaluru while Pawan Sehrawat has five successful tackles.
A Good Leader
Bengaluru Bulls have also found a selfless captain in Rohit Kumar. His selflessness was evident in the first two matches when he allowed in form Pawan and Kashiling Adake to lead the raiding attack and took a back step by not scoring any point.
He has trusted his players and has brought out the best from them. Even Pawan Sehrawat said in an interview that Rohit has helped him to perform better.
This is the reason why Bengaluru Bulls have not been forced to change first 7 frequently. Due to his able leadership, the team has conceded just 230 points in 7 matches- the second least in this season so far.
No over-dependence on a single player
Unlike other teams, Bengaluru Bulls haven't been over-reliant on one raider in the raiding department. Pawan Sehrawat has been supported well by Kashi(34 points) and skipper Rohit Kumar(39 points).
Again, in defence, they have performed as a unit and have constantly prevented the raiders from getting pressurized.
The young guns- Mahendra Singh and Ashish Kumar(18 tackle points each) have been phenomenal.