Southern Derby set to spice up Day 2 in Bengaluru

The second match of Super Sunday in Bengaluru will see Tamil Thalaivas visit Bengaluru to take on reigning champions Bengaluru Bulls at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Victory for the home side could see them climb to third in the vivo Pro Kabaddi standings, while a win for the visitors will see them cut the gap to three points on the top 6.

Match 70: Bengaluru Bulls vs. Tamil Thalaivas

Head-to-head: Bengaluru Bulls 5-1 Tamil Thalaivas

Bengaluru Bulls

Played: 12

Won: 6

Tied: 0

Lost: 6

Win Rate: 50%

Best Raider: Pawan Sehrawat

Best Defender: Mahender Singh

Bengaluru Bulls got off on the wrong foot in their home leg, after being beaten by Gujarat Fortunegiants by a margin of nine points. The defence, however, had an outstanding night, especially rookie Saurabh Nandal, who scored, a joint season-high, eight tackle points from just seven tackle attempts. Leading tackle point scorer Mahender Singh too had a good outing and finished with four tackle points, taking his tally to 35 for the season, just seven behind league-leader Vishal Bhardwaj. However, what will concern coach Randhir Singh Sehrawat will be the performance of his star raiders, 'Hi-Flyer' Pawan Kumar Sehrawat and skipper Rohit Kumar, who scored three raid points each on Saturday. Coach Randhir Singh Sehrawat will be expecting a strong response from his side, which could see them get their first win in Bengaluru in over three years.

Tamil Thalaivas

Played: 11

Won: 3

Tied: 2

Lost: 6

Win Rate:

Best Raider: Rahul Chaudhari

Best Defender: Manjeet Chhillar

After a three-match unbeaten run, Tamil Thalaivas have gone five games without a win and slipped to ninth in the Season 7 standings. The partnership of ‘Iceman’ Ajay Thakur and 'Showman' Rahul Chaudhari hasn’t exactly panned out as Tamil Thalaivas would've hoped. Thakur and Chaudhari are averaging 4.91 and 5.91 raid points, respectively and while the latter has managed two Super 10s so far, the Iceman has managed just one which came in their last match against Bengal Warriors. Their defence, too, needs to step up having averaged just six tackle points in their three previous outings. Qualifying for the playoffs won’t be easy, but a win in the Southern Derby against Bengaluru Bulls will be a step in the right direction.