Pro Kabaddi League 2018: 5 reasons why the Bengal Warriors might not win PKL Season 6

The sixth season of the Pro Kabaddi League has almost beckoned upon us and the twelve teams in the fray have been sweating it out ahead of the season in order to train for the grueling season ahead.

One team that will look to put in the extra yards would be the Bengal Warriors, who agonizingly missed out on qualification into the finals after topping the Zone 'B' table with 11 wins from 22 matches, only to lose out to Patna Pirates in the second qualifier.

Ahead of the auctions, the Warriors opted to build their core around the duo of Maninder Singh and Surjeet Singh as they managed to bring back the services of Jang Kun Lee and all-rounders Ran Singh, Bhupender Singh, and Shrikant Tewthia.

Mahesh Goud, who played his first three seasons of the Pro Kabaddi League is back for a fourth season while Vijin Thangadurai, who partnered Mahesh during season two and three is back as well. Rakesh Narwal and Ziaur Rahman also make their way into the team, which will undoubtedly add more flair to the contest.

However, there are still some minor glitches that could see the Bengal Warriors lose out from winning the title. Here are five reasons -

#5 Pressure of expectancy

Can the Warriors shrug off the 'chokers' tag?

The Warriors did extremely well to top their group stage and qualify for the playoffs but unfortunately could not go all the way, which put to light the slight inefficiency in the team when it comes to crunch situations.

In season one, the Warriors finished 7th while they did slightly better in the next to finish 6th. In the third season, they finished fourth while in the fourth season, performed miserably as they finished 8th.

Now, as a new season approaches, the Warriors' fans will have a lot of hopes on their team to make it to the finals. If they indeed do, it remains to see if they can soak in the pressure and go all the way.

#4 Not the best of talent on the bench

Mahesh Goud has already played for the Warriors

The Warriors have some of the best names in the Pro Kabaddi League playing in the starting seven. Surjeet Singh, Jang Kun Lee, Maninder Singh, Ran Singh etc. are some really big names but what remains to be seen is how the bench is used.

Some of the players such as Vijin Thangadurai, Bhupender Singh, Rakesh Narwal etc have not had the best of runs in the history of the league and if it indeed requires their presence on the mat, the past run of form could come into the equation.

#3 Slightly shaky defence lineup

Ran Singh (Left corner) will have to be wary of his opponent

Surjeet Singh is undoubtedly one of the best right cover defenders in the history of the league and can form a potent combination with Ziaur Rahman on the left cover.

However, the corner positions, which are likely to be manned by Ran Singh and Shrikant Tewthia could pose a slight danger as both the defenders, more so Tewthia have built a reputation to go in with some hasty tackles and if the rest of the defense is caught unaware, the tackle could well go against their favor.

#2 Overdependence on Maninder Singh and Jang Kun Lee

A little too much dependence on Jang Kun Lee?

The Bengal Warriors opted to remain slightly inactive during the bids that were going on for the raiders, clearly explained by the fact that the Warriors were happy with bringing back Jang Kun Lee into the team in order to partner Maninder Singh.

However, in the scenario of an off-day for either of them, the backup raiders are either Mahesh Goud or Rakesh Narwal, both of whom have faded away off-late that could cause some issues for the Surjeet Singh-led side.

#1 Surjeet Singh could be low on confidence

If Surjeet Singh is low on confidence, that would not be the ideal situation for Bengal

As the Indian squad for the Asian Games was announced, one of the most shocking stories was that of the omission of Surjeet Singh, who had performed extremely well at the Kabaddi Masters.

Although the Asian Games is a long gone tournament, Surjeet could still be hurting regarding his axe from the team which, if it manifests into frustration could affect the whole performance of the team.