Star Sports Pro Kabaddi is back with its 4th season in the last 24 months and this time, it promises to be better, bigger and more entertaining than ever with players from 12 different nationalities ready to battle it out in 7 different cities across the country.
The Bengaluru Bulls franchise had a wonderful start to their Pro Kabaddi campaign as the team led by charismatic Manjeet Chhillar reached the semis in the inaugural season and bettered their showing in the next season as they reached their 1st ever PKL final, however, lost the tie to the season 2 champions U Mumba.
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They went under a major squad revamp before the start of season 3 after their skipper Manjeet Chhillar along with star raiders Ajay Thakur and Rajesh Mondal left the team to join Puneri Paltan under controversial circumstances. This time in order to save them the blushes, the Bulls management has acquired a decent enough squad for the upcoming season 4.
Let us have a look at the Bulls’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats leading to an all-important season 4:
Strengths
Solid Defence
After the disappointing 3rd season, the Bengaluru Bulls’ management made it sure to have good defensive players in the squad. This time around, they have signed 2 of the top 5 defenders in the Pro Kabaddi League in U Mumba’s Surender Nada and Mohit Chhillar. Both the star defenders had been the main pillar in U Mumba’s defense line for the past 3 seasons and should provide the same stability at the back in the Bulls’ line-up.
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Rohit Kumar to Bengaluru Bulls can be termed as the most important buy of the season after what turned out to be a perfect winning season for him at the Patna-based franchise in his inaugural season of the PKL. The 26-year old raider accumulated a mammoth total of 102 raid points from his 82 successful raids in the season 3 of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League.
Weaknesses
Home Sickness
Playing in front of their home crowd is something that any team from any sport would aspire for! But as far the Bulls are concerned, we can say that they have failed to take full advantage of their home support as they have won just 50%(P 12 W 6 D 0 L 6) of their matches at home in the first 3 seasons.
With this newly and well-balanced squad, the Bangalore-based franchise needs to win their matches at home to give them a chance of making their 2nd final.
Weak Bench
The other thing that can put Bulls off their track is their weak and untested bench strength, 1 or 2 injuries to any of the starting seven can put a lot of pressure on the new player coming in for him.
Opportunities
Bouncing back from a disappointing season
The major task for the Bulls’ management would be picking up the team from the last season’s disappointment. They managed to win just 2 of their 14 matches to finish 7th in the 3rd season, just 3 points above Delhi-based franchise Dabang Delhi.
With a much more balanced and experienced squad to his disposal, Randhir Singh (Head Coach) would be hopeful to have a good 4th season with Bengaluru Bulls.
Threats
MVP Rohit will be targetted
Rohit Kumar became an overnight sensation in the world of kabaddi after helping Patna Pirates to their 1st ever PKL title with 80 successful raids(3rd highest) to his name in his inaugural season. But this time around, the teams will be much better prepared against the 26-year-old raider, which in turn can hurt Bulls’ quest for their 2nd finals appearance in 3 seasons!
