Pro Kabaddi 2019: Predicting the starting 7 for the Bengaluru Bulls
Vivo Pro Kabaddi 2019 will start from 20th July 2019, with twelve teams in the reckoning for a shot at the title. The seventh season will see all teams will play each other twice in the group stage with no zonal classification in this PKL edition. All the matches will begin from 7:30 PM IST and the home legs of all teams will commence from every Saturday of a new week.
Bengaluru Bulls won the title in season 6 by defeating the Gujarat Fortune Giants 38-33 in the finals, courtesy of Pawan Sehrawat's game-changing 22 raid points. The defending champions Bengaluru Bulls will be up against the three times title winners Patna Pirates on 20th July 2019 in their first clash of PKL 7.
With the Bulls playing their home leg in the last two seasons away from Bengaluru, the Kanteerva Stadium will host the Bulls for this season, in what will be billed as a homecoming for the Rohit Kumar-led side. Their home leg will start on 1st September and will end on 7th September.
The Bulls retained Pawan Sehrawat, Rohit Kumar and Ashish Sangwan ahead of the season 7 auctions where they used their FBM card to re-procure the services of ace defender Mahender Singh for ₹80 lakhs to retain a majority of their core from last season.
Here is a look at how the Bengaluru Bulls could line up for the first match of the season.
Right Corner: Raju Lal Choudhary
Hailing from Rajasthan, Raju Lal Choudhary is a right corner defender. He was a part of the Jaipur Pink Panthers team which emerged victorious in inaugural PKL season. After playing three seasons there, he shifted to Haryana Steelers ahead of PKL 5.
Bengaluru Bulls bought the services of Raju in the last season. A diving hold specialist, Raju Lal picked up 23 defense points in 22 PKL matches. All through the season, he played a massive role as a supporting defender.
Raju Lal is yet to prove himself as a force to reckon with in the right corner. Bengaluru Bulls have also signed the services of Vijay Kumar as his replacement, who is a right corner defender. However, with Raju enjoying some experienced having represented India, he can be expected to start in this season.