Day three of the Pune leg kicks off with U.P. Yoddha taking on an unbeaten Bengal Warriors in Match 25 of VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 6 at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune on Saturday.

After starting the season with a brilliant win over Tamil Thalaivas, U.P. Yoddha succumbed to three straight defeats in their following matches. The team will look to draw motivation from their performance against Tamil Thalaivas and end Bengal Warriors’ perfect start to the campaign.

Bengal Warriors have had a strong start to the campaign, winning both their opening games and being one of only two teams in the league with a perfect record. They will look complete a hat-trick of wins when they take on U.P. Yoddha.

Match 25 (Zone B): U.P. Yoddha vs. Bengal Warriors

Head-to-head: Bengal Warriors 2-0 U.P. Yoddha, 1 draw.

A comprehensive win in their opening game was followed by three defeats and U.P. Yoddha will seek a return to form when they take on Bengal Warriors. The raiding department has been a silver lining for the team, with Shrikant Jadhav, Prashanth Kumar Rai and captain Rishank Devadiga performing well in their opening four games. When Jeeva Kumar returns, U.P. Yoddha’s defence will receive a big boost. The raiders are putting up points and the defence is getting better with each game, which means it is only a matter of time before U.P. Yoddha start producing the quality performances that they are more than capable of. 

An outstanding Season 5 saw Bengal Warriors go all the way to Qualifier 2 and they have kicked off Season 6 with two wins on the trot, proving that they are yet again one of the top contenders to win the VIVO Pro Kabaddi title. Raider Maninder Singh has been in prime form, averaging 10 points this campaign and continuing his good work from Season 5. In defence, Shrikant Tewthia, Ran Singh and captain PO Surjeet Singh have combined to score 14 tackle points, picking off raider after raider in their opening two matches. With the offence and defence both in form, Bengal Warriors are going to be a hard assignment for any opponent they face this season.

The big battle –

Surjeet Singh vs. Rishank Devadiga

U.P. Yoddha captain Rishank Devadiga, who has managed 29 raid points in four matches, will have to put in a big performance against the water-tight Bengal Warriors defence. With three defeats on the trot, U.P. Yoddha will look towards their captain to lead by example and kickstart a good run of results, starting off against Bengal Warriors on Saturday. Scoring 76 tackle points in Season 5, PO Surjeet Singh finished second in the race for Best Defender in a stellar campaign for Bengal Warriors. The captain has led the way again for his team this campaign, as they have surrender less than 30 points to each of their oppositions so far. Singh’s form will go a long way in determining how far Bengal Warriors venture in Season 6.

Key Khiladi-

Shrikant Jadhav – U.P. Yoddha

With 36 points in four matches this season, Shrikant Jadhav is averaging nine raid points per match for his team. U.P. Yoddha will depend on Jadhav to deliver another big performance when they take on Bengal Warriors.

Maninder Singh – Bengal Warriors

Scoring 20 raid points in two games, Maninder Singh has started this season exactly where he left off in the previous campaign. The raider will be key to Bengal Warriors’ chances against a good-looking U.P. Yoddha defence.

Related tags:

U.P. YoddhaKol Maninder SinghRishank DevadigaPro Kabaddi League Season 6, 2018NewsShrikant JadhavEnglishSurjeet Singh