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The eighth leg of Pro Kabaddi 2019 culminated last night with home team Bengal Warriors registering a close win against Bengaluru Bulls. Maninder Singh's men entertained the fans of Kolkata with their impressive performances as they ended their campaign at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium with three wins and a tie from four matches.
The Kolkata-based franchise starting off their home leg with a tie against Gujarat Fortune Giants. In their second game, they defeated Puneri Paltan by 3 points and overcame U Mumba's challenge by the same margin in their third game. In their final home match, the Warriors edged the Bengaluru Bulls by 2 points to move to the second spot on the points table.
Here's a look at the report card of the Bengal Warriors team from the Kolkata leg -
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#1 Maninder Singh - 9/10
Matches - 4, Raid Points - 43, Average Raid Points/Match - 10.75
With two Super 10s in four matches, Maninder Singh led his team from the front in the Kolkata leg. He aggregated 43 raid points in four matches with his best performance coming in the last match against Bengaluru Bulls. Maninder scored 17 raid points in that match and led from the front to take his side across the line.
As a captain, Maninder used his players well besides keeping his cool in the tight situations of the match.
#2 K. Prapanjan - 4/10
Matches - 4, Raid Points - 9, Average Raid Points/Match - 2.25
K. Prapanjan had done well for Bengal Warriors in the first phase of the tournament however, his form dipped in the home leg as he could only score eight raid points in the first two matches.
Prapanjan was then replaced by Sukesh Hegde in the playing seven and, in the last two matches K. Prapanjan scored one raid point while coming in as a substitute.
#3 Mohammad Nabibakhsh - 8/10
Matches - 4, Total Points - 23, Average Points/Match - 4.75
One of the most expensive players from the player auctions, Iranian all-rounder Mohammad Nabibakhsh had the pressure of delivering the goods for the Bengal Warriors, featuring in front of the home fans for the first time this season. He played the role of an all-rounder to perfection in the Kolkata leg as he scored 12 raid points and 11 tackle points in four games.
His best performance came in the final match where he took two touch points, a bonus point and six tackle points to trouble the Bulls and guide the Warriors to a fine win.
#4 Baldev Singh - 6/10
Matches - 4, Tackle Points - 11, Average Tackle Points/Match - 2.75
With one High 5 and one Super Tackle from the home leg, Baldev Singh slightly disappointed the fans as they had high expectations from the corner defender. He started off the home leg with a bang by scoring eight tackle points in the first two matches but he could not repeat his magic in the second half as he could score only three tackle points besides committing four unsuccessful tackles.
#5 Rinku Narwal - 5/10
Matches - 4, Tackle Points - 8, Average Tackle Points/Match - 2
The other corner defender of the team, Rinku Narwal failed to register a single High 5 at the Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium. His best outing came versus U Mumba where he scored four tackle points.
Rinku scored two tackle points each against Gujarat and Pune but, in the match against Bengaluru Bulls he could not even open his account.
#6 Jeeva Kumar - 3/10
Matches - 4, Tackle Points - 4, Average Tackle Points/Match - 1
Being the most experienced defender of the team, the onus was on Jeeva Kumar to lead the defensive unit from the front. Though Kumar provided good support in executing successful tackles, he could not pull off successful tackles on his own.
In the Kolkata leg, Jeeva had an alarming number of 12 unsuccessful tackles against his four successful tackles. He would look to improve his performance in the upcoming matches.
#7 Mayur Shivtarkar - 2/10
Matches - 4, Tackle Points - 2, Average Tackle Points/Match - 0.5
Mayur Shivtarkar featured in the starting seven of all the home matches. However, the youngster did not manage to impress with his performances as he could pick up just two tackle points from the entire Kolkata leg.
He played at the right cover position and committed 13 unsuccessful tackles to add to the woes of Bengal Warriors. Mayur could not open his account in three matches while his two tackle points came against Puneri Paltan.
#8 - Sukesh Hegde - 8/10
Matches - 4, Raid Points - 22, Average Raid Points/Match - 5.5
The reason why K. Prapanjan had to sit out in the last two home matches was the form of Sukesh Hegde. He was in fine form and made most of the opportunities he was given off the bench as he scored nine points in the first two matches while playing as a substitute.
He earned a place in the starting seven for the match against U Mumba and he emerged as the best raider of the team. Even in the match versus Bengaluru Bulls, he scored five raid points to support Maninder Singh. It is likely that he will feature in Bengal Warriors' starting seven more often now as he was one of the key reasons behind the success of the Warriors in Kolkata.
