Pro Kabaddi 2018- Match 53, U.P Yoddha vs Bengaluru Bulls| Match preview and Predicted Lineups
Home team U.P Yoddha will take on the Bengaluru Bulls in a Zone B clash on Thursday. U.P have had a mixed start to their home leg so far with 2 losses and 2 ties. They are in the first place in the Zone B table with 28 points from 11 games. They come off a tie against the Telugu Titans. The Bengaluru Bulls have had a dream start to this season and are in second place in the Zone B table with 6 wins from 5 games and are on 26 points. They come off a win against U.P Yoddha.
U.P Yoddha's raiders have not earned them many points and that may be the reason for their bad performance till now. Rishank Devadiga has 57 points from 10 games averaging 5.7 points per match and Shrikanth Jadhav has 73 points from 11 games and has been good. Prashanth Kumar Rai has been the best performer and has scored 71 points from 10 games. While the raiders have decent individual scores, they need to support each other and put in a combined performance.
U.P's defense has been very good this season but has been let down on many occasions by its raiding unit. Nitesh Kumar in the right corner has been the find of the season for them and has impressed scoring 36 points in 11 games. Sachin Kumar has replaced Sagar Krishna in the left corner and is slowly starting to settle. He has scored 19 points from 9 games. Jeeva Kumar's return to the left cover position provided stability but he took just 1 tackle point against the Titans. U.P have to refrain from making needless challenges and advance tackles in order to dominate the Bengaluru raiding unit.
Bengaluru Bulls' raiding has been brilliant throughout this season and captain Rohit Kumar came into his own and led the side to victory last game. He scored 14 points last game and has 32 points from 6 games finally peaking after a slow start. Pawan Shehrawat has been bustling with energy and has troubled opponent defenses more than anybody. He has 83 points from 6 games and this clearly illustrates his raiding prowess. Kashiling Adake has had a good season as well scoring 45 points from 6 games. The Bengaluru raiders will look to continue with their dominant performance.
Ashish Sangwan has been the most impressive defender for the Bulls and has scored 18 points from 6 games playing in both the right corner and cover positions. Mahender in the left cover has scored 12 points from 6 games supporting his fellow defenders. Sandeep in the left corner is slowly settling into his role and has scored 8 points from 5 games. The defense will look to continue with their united performance and trouble the U.P raiders.
Both sides will be looking for a win in this game, the U.P side needs a win to consolidate their lead up front and if the Bulls win, they will go to the top of the table. U.P will look to take more raid points and stay patent defensively and not concede easy points. Bulls will look to continue with their dominant raiding style and catch the U.P defense off guard while trapping the U.P raiders when they come into raid.
Predicted Lineups: U.P Yoddha - Rishank Devadiga(C), Shrikanth Jadhav, Prashanth Kumar Rai, Nitesh Kumar, Narender, Azad Singh, Jeeva Kumar
Bengaluru Bulls - Rohit Kumar(C), Pawan Shehrawat, Kashiling Adake, Ashish Sangwan, Mahender Singh, Sandeep, Raju Lal Choudhary
When and where to watch: 8th November at 9:00 pm IST on Star Sports 2