The battle for revenge: Rohit Kumar vs Rahul Chaudhari

The VIVO Pro Kabaddi bandwagon has shifted from Rahul Chaudhari’s den in Hyderabad to Rohit Kumar’s home venue for the season, Nagpur. Tonight, we will witness another blockbuster at the Mankapur Indoor Stadium as Bengaluru Bulls take on Telugu Titans who were defeated 21-31 when the teams met earlier this season. The Titans, who enter the Tuesday contest on the back of five consecutive defeats, will be keen to get back to winning ways against their southern counterparts in the repeat encounter. Bengaluru Bulls started the season on a high but are now smarting from two consecutive defeats, both coming at their home venue.

With the coaches on either side reworking their strategies and shuffling team sheets to ensure the fittest and best seven take on the mat tonight, we take a look at the two superstars and opposing captains - Rohit Kumar and Rahul Chaudhari - who have been the backbone of their respective teams.

Rohit Kumar, the second most expensive player in VIVO Pro Kabaddi history, has had a good season so far showing his raiding skills and leadership qualities in the four matches the Bulls have played. In Season 5, he picked up a hat-trick of Super 10s with 39 Raid points in the four matches he has played. Ajay Kumar, Preetam Chhillar and Ravinder Pahal have also shown fine form, but a lot resides on Rohit to pull his team back and keep raging the opponents. The captain has played in just three seasons of VIVO Pro Kabaddi but has garnered over 250 total points already. This constitutes 234 Raid points and 17 tackle points.

The last time these two teams met, Rohit Kumar was the star player as he bamboozled the Titans by picking up 12 points (Touch: 8 | Bonus: 2 | Tackle: 2) alongside Ajay Kumar (7 points), and the Titans must ensure these two raiders are not given the upper hand in the contest.

Telugu Titans had an extremely disappointing first week in Season 5, having just managed to win one of their last six encounters and a tally of just 8 points so far. Currently sitting at fifth on the Zone B leaderboard, the Titans need to quickly regroup and identify what is hampering their preparations. ‘Raid Machine’ Rahul Chaudhari has been the best player in the squad thus far, but we are yet to see the phenomenal performances he has so diligently delivered over the years. While he presently leads the Total Points, Raid Points and Successful Raids tables with 45, 43 and 36 points respectively, one needs to note that he has also played the most matches yet. Opponents have managed to keep Chaudhari out of play for the most part through tackles, and this is one of the major reasons for the team’s poor show.

Rakesh Kumar, Nilesh Salunke and Rohit Rana also need to up their quotient to aid their captain in every department. The last time these two teams met, the Bulls completely overpowered the Titans and hence, they will be hoping to exact revenge in the best manner possible.

Who will emerge triumphant? Time will tell. Reserve your seats tonight to witness two of the best in the business taking guard against each other LIVE on the Star Sports network and hotstar.