Bengaluru Bulls lock horns with Telugu Titans in the Pro Kabaddi League at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium on Monday.
The Bulls have quite a task ahead of them as they need a victory be more than two points. The other three teams in the semis are leaders Jaipur Pink Panthers, second-placed U Mumba and Patna Pirates, who are third.
The Bulls playing at home, no doubt, would have a great deal of support. The team would hope that this inspires them to produce a victory. Emerging victorious against this Telugu Titans outfit comes across as a very hard task. The Titans go into the match undefeated in their last seven games. Five of these have been victories.
After an indifferent start to the tournament, the Titans have come into their own. A fearsome offense led by Rahul Chaudhari has been wreaking havoc in the defences of other teams. Chaudhari has more than hundred raid points in this tournament. Deepak Nivas Hooda and Sukesh Hegde have given him very good support. It is Chaudhari, Hooda and Hegde who have pushed other teams toward defeat and rescued the Titans whenever they have been in trouble.
In an earlier game against Bengal Warriors they seemed out of the reckoning, as with only a mere three minutes remaining the Warriors led by 10 points. But the Titans made a fantastic comeback and saw to it that the game ended in a tie. In earlier games the Titans offence have taken teams apart, 60-24 and 45-26 victories against Puneri Paltan and Dabang Delhi respectively is a testament to that. In this all-important encounter the Telugu Titans will hope the offence will once again dominate.
The Bulls head into this match on the back of a defeat at the hands of Patna Pirates on Monday. They would have been disappointed that they did not go and win the game despite seizing the lead. The Bulls have to put that loss out of their minds.
The defence will have to be at their sharpest against the dangerous Titans attack. The Bulls can take heart from the fact that the Titans defence has not been at their best in their last two games. If the Bulls can apply pressure early on and sustain it then it'll be interesting to see how the Titans hit back.
The Bengaluru side will also hope that Ajay Thakur, their raider, seizes the initiative for the home side. A lot rests on skipper Manjit Chillar as well.
Where to Watch Live--
Bengaluru Bulls play Telugu Titans at 8-00pm. Star Sports will air the match. Live coverage will comence on Star Sports HD 2. This is the link for the live streaming option on starsports.com.
