Pro Kabaddi 2019: Match 2, Bengaluru Bulls vs Patna Pirates| Match Preview, Predicted Lineups and Dream 11 Fantasy Tips

Modified Jul 26, 2019 15:11 IST

Can Pardeep lead the Pirates to victory or will the Bulls reign supreme?

Defending champions Bengaluru Bulls will take on three-time champions Patna Pirates in the second game of the double-header on the opening day of Pro Kabaddi 2019 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad on 20th July.

The Bengaluru Bulls were crowned champions of PKL season thanks to a stunning performance from young Pawan Sehrawat. The defending champions let go of veteran Kashiling Adake and re-signed ace left cover defender Mahender Singh for a hefty sum to bolster their defense. They will look to start their title defense with a with a win in this challenging encounter.

The Pirates have been struck by injury as Surender Nada's future this season is pretty uncertain after failing to recover from a wrist injury. The Pirates, however, have signed Jang Kun Lee, who will be of vital support to Pardeep Narwal. Patna failed to make it to the playoffs for the first time after winning three consecutive titles and will look to claim a win in their opening fixture.

Bengaluru Bulls

Can the defending champions get their campaign off to a flying start?

Key Players: Rohit Kumar, Pawan Sehrawat and Mahender Singh

Bengaluru Bulls were led by an inspired performance from young Pawan Sehrawat, who topped the raiding charts with 271 points last season, and along with Rohit Kumar and will look to repeat the same this season. They will miss the services of Kashiling Adake and should turn to the likes of Vinod Kumar and Sumit Singh to provide raiding support.

They bought back ace defender Mahender Singh for a whopping ₹80 lakh at the auction and he can be expected to partner the versatile Ashish Sangwan, who is set to feature in the right cover position this year. Amit Sheoran, who impressed in the latter half of last season will continue in the left corner position while the right corner position is still uncertain.

Patna Pirates

Can the record-breaker lead his side to an early triumph?

Key Players: Pardeep Narwal, Jang Kun Lee and Jaideep

The Patna Pirates have been a consistent PKL team ever since the inception of the league but the three-time champions failed to make it to the playoffs last season. Barring a lone fight from skipper and star raider Pardeep Narwal, none of the others, especially the defense unit failed to supported him.

Considering this, the team has made a lot of changes in their squad and brought in Korean raider Jang Kun Lee to support Pardeep making it a strong raiding outfit. Iranian Mohammad Maghsoudlou will make his PKL debut this season and the trio can rack up a lot of points.

Defensively, Patna have been dealt a blow with new signing, ace defender Surender Nada declared a doubt for the season after failing to recover from the injury which ruled him out of the previous edition.

While they do have Jaideep to play in the left corner, Nada's presence would have been valuable. Neeraj Kumar could take the right corner spot battling it out with regular Jawahar Dagar while Hadi Oshtorak and Vikas Jaglan could occupy the cover positions.

Predicted Lineups: Bengaluru Bulls- Rohit Kumar(C), Pawan Sehrawat, Ashish Sangwan, Mahender Singh, Amit Sheoran, Raju Lal Choudhary and Vinod Kumar.

Patna Pirates: Pardeep Narwal(C), Jang Kun Lee, Mohammad Maghsoudlou, Neeraj Kumar, Jaideep, Hadi Oshtorak and Vikas Jaglan.