Bengaluru Bulls vs UP Yoddha: Preview and Prediction

Earlier this season, the Yoddhas’ defence unit fought Bengaluru Bulls and produced the finest defensive performance in the Pro Kabaddi League’s history. On a score of 42-27 in favour of UP, the referee blew the full-time whistle, ending a game in which Yoddha’s defence scored more points than both sides’ raiding departments. In a massive fifteen-point victory, the blue side had eight players contribute to the score of 22 tackle points and only imposed one all-out. 

Jasveer Singh, the UP coach, is unlikely to make any changes to his starting lineup, but the Bulls’ lineup from their previous encounter might be dramatically different. As part of coach Sehrawat’s rotation policy, three Bengaluru Bulls defensive starters (Saurabh Nandal, Aman Antil, and Mahender Singh) were benched in their last game. The plan, however, failed horribly, and all of them will be back in the starting lineup for this encounter. Meanwhile, Mayur Kadam’s status as the team’s first-choice right cover is in jeopardy. 

Both devastating raiders, Pawan and Pardeep, made their PKL debuts under coach Randhir Singh Sehrawatare and have since been nightmares for defenders. Pardeep moved on to pursue a different professional path, but Pawan remained to represent the Bulls under Randhir’s supervision. When these two warriors enter the opposing courts for this battle of dominance, this rivalry week game will evolve into Superhit Panga. 

Record of head-to-head competition

With a dominating win earlier this season, UP Yoddha now has a three-game head-to-head record, while the Bulls have previously won seven of the 10 meetings between these two teams. The Uttar Pradesh-based franchise’s devastation was a retaliation for the Bulls’ elimination from the PKL’s seventh edition. 

So far, how have they fared?

Bengaluru Bulls were recently dethroned from their table-topping status by the capital-based Dabang Delhi franchise. For a long time, the Red Army reigned supreme, but threats from Patna Pirates and Dabang Delhi ultimately put an end to the Karnataka-based franchise.

Yoddhas, on the other hand, played in patches and had a lot of ups and downs during the season eight campaign, resulting in a mid-table finish. 

Both franchises are returning to the battlefield after being thrashed by the lower-ranked team from the points table in their last match. In ‘The Kaveri Derby,’ UP lost a high-scoring raid feast against Puneri Paltan, while the Bulls were defeated by the Tamil Thalaivas by eighteen points. The Uttar Pradesh-based team will return to play after a five-day break, which will aid in the team’s recovery from their past two losses. 

Prediction

Due to the extraordinary conclusion of the last match, UP Yoddha will have a psychological advantage against the Karnataka-based franchise. They have a good opportunity to accomplish a double against the Bulls, who have had a poor run of form in recent games. 

Players to Watch

Pardeep Narwal: This season, the PKL cosmos is witnessing a different version of Pardeep, one whose place in the squad is uncertain. We’ve never seen Pardeep play anything other than the primary raider since his rise to stardom, but the ‘Dubki-King’ has been observed as a backup raider or even performing repeated ankle-hold attempts on opposing raiders.

Pawan Sehrawat: Since the previous few seasons, Pawan’s ascent has been one of the key reasons for the shift in strong fanfare from Pardeep Narwal. Unlike other superstar raiders, he also takes defensive contributions seriously. When Bengaluru’s defence was suffering in their last match, Pawan gained two tackle points by successfully trying a Super Tackle.

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