Pro Kabaddi 2019: "We are elated to play in Bengaluru this season," says Bengaluru Bulls coach Randhir Singh Sehrawat

Defending champions Bengaluru Bulls have six wins from 11 games thus far in the ongoing edition of Pro Kabaddi 2019, and will be returning to the Sree Kanteerva Stadium in Bengaluru for their home leg after having last played in Bengaluru only in the 5th edition of the PKL.

The Bulls will begin the home leg campaign against the Gujarat Fortune Giants today, August 31st before they host the Tamil Thalaivas on September 1st, three-time champions Patna Pirates on September 4th ahead of their last home game against the Telugu Titans on September 6th.

In season 5, the Bulls played their home games in Nagpur before shifting base to Pune in season 6 and will undoubtedly be gearing to step on to the mat in their much-awaited comeback match in Bengaluru.

Bulls' coach Randhir Singh Sehrawat shed light on the excitement behind playing in front of the locals, the pressure of living up to fans expectations and dealt with the issue of missing out on a quality third raider.

We are elated to play at Bengaluru this season. We are coming back home after a long gap of two years and Rohit Kumar and Pawan Sehrawat are very excited to return and give their best for the team.

In the previous season, the Bulls put up a couple of impressive performances and adopted the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune as the venue for their home leg. In season 5, the Mankapur Indoor Stadium in Nagpur was the 'adopted home' for the Bulls.

This season, with the Kanteerva Stadium in Bengaluru set to host the home side, Randhir Singh is excited to gain the backing of the home fans.

Yes we are the defending champions but in the last two seasons, we did not get the feeling of playing at home. When we were playing our home leg in Pune, the fans were cheering on the Puneri Paltan players and the feeling of playing at home was missing. This season, it will be different.

Undoubtedly, Pawan Sehrawat's emphatic run in this edition, the youngster registering 137 points from 11 matches has influenced a number of the Bulls' wins this season. However, skipper Rohit Kumar has not been in the best of form and questions have been asked circling some much-needed support for young Pawan.

Yet, coach Randhir, despite claiming that he has at times needed a third raider in the side, boiled it down to his two main raiding stars needing to lead the way on the raiding front.

Yes, we are missing the third raider slightly. Last season, Harish Naik and Kashiling Adake were playing through pain but made an impact. This season, I believe that if Pawan and Rohit hit their peak form, the raiding unit will wear a formidable look without the need of a third raider."

With the induction of the New Young Player (NYP) program, the franchises have banked on some amount of surprise element to add an extra dimension to their team setup. However, the advent of visual aids and video analysis has gone a long way in understanding the way a certain player exhibits his style of play.

Randhir Singh minces no words in crediting the video analysis for helping the youngsters learn from their mistakes and add a lot more skill to their game.

It helps quite a lot (Video Analysis). Someone like Saurabh Nandal, who is playing his first season already has three High 5s to his name while Mahender Singh is a hero on the defensive front. Video analysis plays a big role in shaping their style of play and removing errors.

At the half-way stage last season, the Bulls were in fine form and had registered five wins apart from two tied encounters and four losses from 11 games. At a similar stage in this edition, the Bulls have won six games but have lost five games.

When asked about the key areas to focus on ahead of an important second half of the season, Randhir Singh stressed on needing to remain confident throughout.

We hope to do well at home this season. In the last season, we finished as the champions but at the half-way stage, from 11 matches, we won five games and had two tied encounters. This season, we have won six games but have lost five games and we will need to focus on the path ahead.

In a final note just before asking the Bengaluru Bulls fans to turn up in large numbers and support the team, he added importance to the need for the team to put on a fighting spirit, to connect a lot more with the fans.

Putting up a fight will be the most important thing for us. If we give it our 100% on the mat, and even if we lose, our fans will laud us for showing some bite all through the game. However, if we lose by more than 7 points, the competitive spirit is lost right there.