Pro Kabaddi League 2018, Match 49: UP Yoddha vs Bengal Warriors | Match Preview and Predicted Line-ups
UP Yoddha take on the Bengal Warriors in a Zone B clash at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida.
The two consecutive losses in the first two home-leg matches have been a significant setback to the winning plans of the Yoddhas.
The Yoddhas plan of playing with just 2 frontline raiders - Shrikant Jadhav and Prashanth Kumar Rai, isn't panning out the way that they would have liked. They wanted to bolster their defence by sacrificing the extra raider, and since the defence of the Yoddhas has improved in performance, they should drop Sagar Krishna and get Rishank Devadiga into the squad.
Their 2-pronged raiding could manage a measly 12 raid points against the Bengaluru Bulls' defence and was the prime reason for their defeat in last night's encounter.
Bengal Warriors, too are coming off a loss against the Patna Pirates and would look to regain the winning momentum that they had at the start of the season.
They missed the services of Maninder Singh in their match against the Pirates, and Ran Singh who primarily tends to his team's defensive requirements had to focus his energy on raiding which he did superbly, but at the cost of the team's existing defensive setup. The famed Warriors defence could just manage 7 tackle points in their match against the Pirates.
Vijin Thangadurai could be replaced in the next match if Maninder Singh is available to play.
The last time the two teams squared off was Match 25 in the current season and nothing could separate the sides as the match ended on a tie (40-40).
Key Battles to keep an eye on:
#1 Maninder Singh (right raider) vs Sachin Kumar (left corner)
#2 Shrikant Jadhav (left raider) vs Shrikant Tewthia (right corner)
Probable playing 7:
UP Yoddha: Rishank Devadiga (c), Prashanth Kumar Rai, Shrikant Jadhav, Jeeva Kumar, Sachin Kumar, Nitesh Kumar, and Narender
Bengal Warriors: Surjeet Singh (c), Maninder Singh, Mahesh Goud, Jang Kun Lee, Ran Singh, Amit Kumar, and Shrikant Tewthia
When and where to watch: 21:00 IST on the Star Sports network and on digital streaming platform Hotstar