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Bengal Warriors will take on the UP Yoddha in a Zone B clash in the first match scheduled for today's evening at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune.
The Warriors are unbeaten so far and would strive to continue their winning streak with a win in today's evening encounter.
They have been strong in both of their matches, with a mix of good offensive and defensive performances. But it's the strong defensive lineup of the Warriors that the raiding trio of the Yoddha have to be wary of.
Led by their captain, Surjeet Singh, the defense of the Warriors boasts of the likes of the in-form Shrikant Tewthia and the experienced Ran Singh. Ziaur Rahman has been a point of bother, but replacing him with Vijin Thangadurai in the covers could sort out the problems.
The results do not seem to favor the UP Yoddha at the Pro Kabaddi League 2018 as they have succumbed to three consecutive losses till now and would look for a change in fortunes against a strong Bengal Warriors side.
UP Yoddha's defense has been a cause of concern with just 34 tackle points in 4 games at an average of 8.5 tackle points per match, which places them a disappointing 9th among the 12 sides in the competition.
The raiders, especially their captain, Rishank Devadiga and Shrikant Jadhav have displayed some terrific raiding and have managed to keep the Yoddhas in touching distance in each of their losses.
The 5-day rest would have given adequate time for the Yoddha coaches and management to figure out a plan to either improve their defensive scores or strengthen their raiding, at the expense of their defense, and do what Patna Pirates had done in the last season on their way to becoming the champions.
Probable playing 7:
Bengal Warriors: Surjeet Singh (c), Maninder Singh, Mahesh Goud, Jang Kun Lee/Rakesh Narwal, Vijin Thangadurai, Ran Singh, and Shrikant Tewthia
UP Yoddha: Rishank Devadiga (c), Shrikant Jadhav, Prashant Kumar Rai, Narender, Amit/Sachin, Nitesh Kumar, and Sagar Krishna
When and where to watch: 20:00 IST on the Star Sports network and on the digital streaming platform, Hotstar.
