The Bengal Warriors have 8 wins from their 16 matches in the PKL this season and have been very good in patches. The frustration with the side has been its inability to maintain good stretches of form over an extended period.
Led by PO Surjeet Singh, an excellent defender, the heart and should of the side is Maninder Singh.
This season has not been the most fruitful for Maninder Singh by his own lofty standards. He is the leading raider for the Bengal Warriors and has over 100 raid points to his name but his returns have varied wildly from match to match.
Maninder Singh needs to find a way to lift his own form and lead the Bengal Warriors from the front. If he can do so, we have no doubt that he will go through the Tamil Thalaivas like a hot knife through butter.
PO Surjeet Singh and Amit Kumar will lead the defense for the Bengal Warriors. They are going to be up against Ajay Thakur, a raider that can win matches on his own when he is on song, and so keeping him quiet is going to be crucial as well.
The Tamil Thalaivas have won just five matches out of the 20 they have played this season. That is less than any other side in the entire Pro Kabaddi League. This season has been truly horrific for the Tamil Thalaivas which will frustrate Ajay Thakur to no end.
The individual form of Thakur has been very good. He has scored points in each and looked like a threat even against the best of teams. The problem comes when he is not on the mat. The Tamil Thalaivas have struggled to find any sort of dependable backup for him and everything often just falls down to Thakur alone.
The gulf between Ajay Thakur’s raid point tally and the next best in the Tamil Thalaivas side illustrates this point perfectly. Sukesh Hegde was supposed to provide the foil to Thakur but that has not materialized as the Tamil Thalaivas would have hoped.
Amit Hooda and Manjeet Chillar lead the defense for the Tamil Thalaivas. Chillar is a very experienced campaigner and does his job without any fuss. Like Ajay Thakur, Manjeet Chillar is also left fighting a lone battle without too much support.
It is difficult to find a solution to the Tamil Thalaivas at this late stage in the PKL especially when there is no motivation for the team to achieve anything as well.
The Bengal Warriors have won three out of their last five matches while the Tamil Thalaivas have failed to win a single match in their last five matches. Neither of the sides is in good current form, though, as even the Bengal Warriors have lost two out of their last three matches.
We think the Bengal Warriors have the better side and should have more motivation at this stage of the Pro Kabaddi League. They will also be fired up playing in front of a partisan crowd.
Back the Bengal Warriors to win.