Star-studded Bengaluru Bulls look strong on paper ahead of Season 10

Bengaluru Bulls had a good Pro Kabaddi Season 9 campaign after making it to the semi-finals last year. They had strong performers on both ends of the mat and were one of the more consistent teams when it came to producing top-class performances.

Some of their top performers like Neeraj Narwal, Bharat, Saurabh Nandal, and Aman along with Yash Hooda were retained by the Bulls for Season 10. Vikash Kandola and Sachin Narwal were bought back using the Final Bid Match (FBM) card. Bengaluru Bulls were the only team to utilise the entire 25-player spots at the Player Auction to build their Pro Kabaddi Season 10 squad.

Fantastic Four in Attack

The Bulls have plenty of quality raiding options in their ranks. They have got the likes of Bharat, Vikash Kandola, Neeraj Narwal and Abhishek Singh who have shown their effectiveness on the mat in the past. Bharat was in formidable form for the Bulls with 279 raid points last year and was also the best raider in Season 9. At times, he looked unstoppable and was well-supported by the likes of Vikash Kandola and Neeraj Narwal. Vikash and Neeraj scored 135 and 92 raid points respectively in Season 9.

Abhishek Singh didn’t have the best of seasons by his standards in the previous PKL edition but he has got enough experience to bounce back with a bang in the upcoming campaign. The elegant raider has accumulated 442 raid points in 74 matches over the course of his PKL career and he will look to return to his best in Season 10.

The Bulls have also got decent back-ups in their raiding department in the form of Monu and Sushil. Banty who was a part of the Bulls’ setup in Season 7 is another player who could spring a surprise with his raiding skills.

Defensive Depth

On the defensive front, the Bulls have got an experienced set-up in defence for every position. They have tacklers like Saurabh Nandal, Aman, Vishal and Surjeet Singh who are ranked among the top players in their respective positions on the mat. Saurabh Nandal was solid in defence for the Bulls last year, scoring 72 tackle points to become the third-best defender of Season 9. His teammate Aman wasn’t far behind as he earned 60 tackle points in the last campaign.

Vishal is another quality player that the Season 6 champions have added to their squad. The left cover was one of the finest cover defenders in Season 9 as he amassed 58 tackle points in the previous PKL edition. He will be accompanied by Surjeet Singh (348 tackle points) who is among the top five defenders in PKL history. These two cover defenders are likely to play as a pair for the first time in PKL and the Bulls will expect them to work seamlessly in tandem.

Saurabh Nandal, Aman and Vishal, in fact, were among the top 10 defenders in the Season 9 tackle points leaderboard. Apart from these known faces in defence, young defender Yash Hooda was also retained by the Bulls from the Existing New Young Players category. Bengaluru Bulls also signed Ponparthiban Subramanian who is a good right cover.

Experienced All-Rounders

As far as all-rounders are concerned, Ran Singh and Sachin Narwal are the two players who are expected to provide balance to the team. Ran Singh is the more experienced all-rounder and has played 142 Pro Kabaddi matches in which he has scored 378 points, while Sachin Narwal has 63 points to his name so far and will be hoping to build on that in Season 10.

On paper, the Bulls look like one of the strongest teams in Season 10 as they have got options for every position. Randhir Singh Sehrawat who is the only coach to stick with one PKL franchise for all 10 seasons is someone who gets the best out of his players by allowing them to express themselves on the mat. He will be in-charge of the Bulls for Season 10 as well and will be hoping that his new set of players can go all the way to clinch their second PKL trophy.