Pro Kabaddi League 2018- Match 19, Tamil Thalaivas vs Bengaluru Bulls Match preview, Probable Lineups

On 10th October 2018, the penultimate day of the Chennai leg of PKL 6, the Tamil Thalaivas took on the Bengaluru Bulls. Bengaluru Bulls highlighted Thalaivas' defensive issues with a plundering of raid points. Pawan Shehrawat ended the 1st half on a high. He was on 14 points with 2 super raids, one of them being a 5 pointer. Kashiling Adake too joined the party with 9 points while Rohit Kumar was nursing a niggle and could put in just 2 raids.

The Thalaivas were trailing 28-12 at halftime and it was a desperate fight back from their captain Ajay Thakur which brought them closer to the Bulls' total ending the match 38-47.

The Tamil Thalaivas will take on the Bengaluru Bulls in a rematch of the fixture on 17th October 2018.

Tamil Thalaivas were certainly feeling the heat after that game. They ended their home leg with yet another miserable defeat against the Bengal Warriors. They had a six-day break after that and the team had plenty of concerns going into the break. Their raiding unit was inconsistent with the exception of Ajay Thakur and the other raiders constantly being rotated.

Their defenders were worse and looked clueless against the opposition raiders while they seemed comfortable against the first match against the Patna Pirates. A question of complacency or if Patna were really a good side that night could be raised. The right corner Amit Hooda started off well and even got a High 5 against the Telugu Titans. He has been very quiet in the rest of the games scoring only 11 points in 5 games.

Mighty Manjeet Chillar was a talking point in this season's auction. He seemed to immediately strengthen the defence and support Ajay with the leadership role. Manjeet has been good in pockets this season but has not shown his experience in his new position at left corner. Rather than the ruthless Manjeet Chillar we wanted to see, we have seen a reckless Manjeet Chillar rushing into half-hearted tackles.

The team's cover combination has been really poor scoring just 8 points in 5 games. The team needs to get its combinations right and the coach should have a stern word with his defenders asking them to stay calm and mature during thee game. He'll also hope that the experience of Manjeet and Jasvir will come to the fore helping out the lone fighter Ajay.

On the other hand, the Bengaluru Bulls have assimilated a really strong squad this season. Rohit Kumar has returned to full fitness and this will certainly affect the number of raids that young Pawan Shehrawat not forgetting star raider Kashiling Adake. Their young defenders have shown great promise and Ashish Sangwan, the right corner defender scored 7 points in the previous game.

Mahender Singh in the left cover was not bad scoring 3 points while experienced cover defender Jasmer Gulia will hope to come good this game after scoring just 1 point from 7 tackles.

The Thalaivas need to find the right balance in their team and they will most probably bring in versatile raider Sukesh Hegde in the side. He was sidelined due to injury and will look to be the support that Ajay Thakur needs. They may also try to play Manjeet Chillar as a cover defender making him feel more comfortable while they still try to find a good third defender or all-rounder.

Bengaluru Bulls will retain their raiding trio while playing the same cover combination. Ashish Sangwan will hope to continue his brilliant form while they may consider giving young Sandeep a try in the left corner position.

Probable Lineups: Bengaluru Bulls- Rohit Kumar(C), Pawan Shehrawat, Kashiling Adake, Ashish Sangwan, Mahender Singh, Jasmer Singh and Sandeep.

Tamil Thalaivas- Ajay Thakur(C), Manjeet Chillar, Athul MS, Sukesh Hegde, Amit Hooda, Darshan and C.Arun.

The Thalaivas will look to avenge their loss and will look to give solid defensive performances supporting their raiding unit. Manjeet should let his experience rule over him and must remain calm and act as the leader of the defensive unit. Bengaluru Bulls, after a week-long break, shouldn't change their style of play and will look to cripple their opposition with decisive raids and finish them off with effective defending. Jasmer Singh should time his tackles better and must wait during do or die raids.

When and where to watch: Star Sports 2 and Star Sports Tamil at 8:00 pm IST. Also available on Hotstar.