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In what was touted as a battle of the raiders, Bengaluru Bulls the team with the better defence defeated the Tamil Thalaivas with a score of 48-37.
All thanks to the young Pawan Kumar Sehrawat, who no one would have expected to overshadow his team's prolific senior raiders - Rohit Kumar and Kashiling Adake, with his spectacular display of attack. He scored a whopping 20 points from just 15 attempted raids and turned the game in the Bulls' favour from the get-go.
Pawan did exceptionally well in the Bull's first match of the season to justify his auction price of close to 53 lacs and repaid the faith his coach, Randhir Singh and management had in him. His 5-point raid in the 18th minute, followed by a 4-point raid in the 20th minute against a defence comprising the likes of Manjeet Chhillar and Amit Hooda, gave his team a 16-point lead moving into the second half of the match.
Rohit was happy to take the back seat and let Pawan continue his fine form. Kashiling Adake, the other Bulls' raider took away 9 raid points from the game.
Its deja-vu for the Thalaivas as Ajay Thakur stood tall, whereas the rest of his team, except Athul MS, laid in the ruins of their dismal performance. Ajay scored 20 points and was the most successful raider for the Thalaivas.
One almost feels sad for Ajay who is going above and beyond to save the drowning ship of the Tamil Thalaivas, whereas his other teammates seem hardly in a mood to improve their game.
The defence of the Thalaivas, especially in the first half, was the worst in all the matches played yet refusing to learn from their mistakes and gifting multiple Super-Raids to the opponents' attackers. As a result, they could manage just 5 tackle points in the match.
Before the water rises above their head and it's too late to act, the Thalaivas' have to figure out a defensive setup that coordinates well and works as a cohesive unit.
What's next?
The Bengaluru Bulls will again face off against Tamil Thalaivas, who would be looking for revenge in the reverse fixture, at the Motilal Nehru School of Sports in Sonepat on the 17th of October.
