Gujarat Fortunegiants and Bengaluru Bulls face off in battle of zone toppers

With both sides having finished top of their respective zones, Gujarat Fortunegiants and Bengaluru Bulls will face off in Qualifier 1 at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi on Monday. Gujarat Fortunegiants are playing this fixture for the second successive season and are on a six-match unbeaten run winning all six of their previous encounters. Bengaluru Bulls have been solid throughout the season, becoming the first team from Zone B to qualify for the Playoffs. The two sides played out a 30-30 tie the only previous time they met this season.

Qualifier 1: Gujarat Fortunegiants vs Bengaluru Bulls

Head-to-head: Gujarat Fortunegiants 1-0 Bengaluru Bulls. 1 tie 

Gujarat Fortunegiants

Played: 22

Won: 17

Tied: 2

Lost: 3

Win rate: 77.27%

Best Raider: Sachin

Best Defender: Parvesh Bhainswal

Gujarat Fortunegiants ended the league stages with the best record amongst all teams. An offence revolving around Sachin and a varied defence that ranks second in terms of points scored this season, led by Parvesh Bhainswal, Gujarat Fortunegiants have played as a unit throughout the season. With Bhainswal and Sunil Kumar accounting for 60 per cent of the team’s tackle points, the duo have the best defensive pairing this season, with both of them featuring amongst the season’s top five defenders. When they take on Bengaluru Bulls, Gujarat Fortunegiants will rely heavily on Sachin to get them the bulk of their points.

Bengaluru Bulls

Played: 22

Won: 13

Tied: 2

Lost: 7

Win rate: 59.09%

Best Raider: Pawan Kumar Sehrawat

Best Defender: Mahender Singh

Bengaluru Bulls have been led in season 6 by a strong raiding trio with Pawan Kumar Sehrawat at the helm. Bengaluru Bulls amassed the most raid points this season, with Sehrawat, Rohit Kumar and Kashiling Adake accounting for 456 of their 499 raid points. The team also scored the most Super Raids throughout the league stages. With Mahender Singh leading their defence, Bengaluru Bulls will be keen to reduce the threat and impact of Gujarat Fortunegiants’ raiders. On the other hand, they will want to keep the duo of Parvesh Bhainswal and Sunil Kumar on the bench for long periods of time, before unleashing Sehrawat on the other members of their defence.