Defending champions Bengal Warriors will battle Tamil Thalaivas on Wednesday in the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League Season 8. Both Warriors and Thalaivas have very less chances of qualifying for the playoffs and are dependent on other results going their way.
The two teams are placed 11th and 10th in the league (47 points each with Thalaivas having played a match lesser).
The Warriors will look back at the season as a lost opportunity. Their star raider Maninder Singh was nearly flawless throughout the campaign which is usually enough to put teams in a playoff spot. But the rest of the Warriors failed to support him. In attack, Mohammad Nabibakhsh - hero from 2019 final - failed to score enough points while in defence the likes of Abozar Mighani and Ran Singh couldn't find the required consistency.
Tamil Thalaivas can argue the same - their raiders Manjeet and Ajinkya Pawar were good but maybe not consistent enough. Sagar has been the standout defender but Surjeet Singh's form dropped drastically as the season progressed.
The match of Wednesday is therefore an encounter between two "close but not close enough" teams of Season 8. The players will be fighting for pride and a contract in the upcoming season when they hit the mat. Thalaivas have a very good unit and adding another raider could solve the problems. Bengal will however need to rebuild the team to have more attacking options and younger defenders.
The second match of the night will see Telugu Titans lock horns with Jaipur Pink Panthers. With just 1 win in the entire season, the Telugu Titans have endured an upsetting campaign. They will be looking to bow out with a few wins under the belt. Meanwhile, Jaipur Pink Panthers are still in contention for a playoff spot. Titans have nothing to lose and that might bring out the best in the likes of Rajnish, Adarsh T and Ankit Beniwal.
Jaipur will be hoping their attacking duo of Deepak Hooda and Arjun Deshwal can do the trick for them. The right corner has been a weakness for the Titans throughout the season which means left raider Deepak Hooda might be able to steal easy points. The Pink Panthers defence also needs to b tight. The strategy should be to keep Rajnish off the mat as much as possible.
( With inputs from ANI )
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