Pro Kabaddi 2019: Fitness and Never-say-die attitude the highlights of Bengaluru Bulls' season

Bengaluru Bulls, winners of the Season 6 of the Pro Kabaddi League, started off well this season as well. A mid-season stutter and injury to captain Rohit Kumar resulted in them finishing 6th in the table, just about qualifying for the playoffs. They showed their pedigree by posting a superb win over UP Yoddha in the eliminator to qualify for the semis, where they lost out to the all-conquering Dabang Delhi outfit.

It was a good season for the defending champions, but the most encouraging point for the management and coach Randhir Singh would have been the way they came back in the second half of each match. Their fitness and never-say-die attitude were there for everyone to see throughout the 3-month long gruelling season. A large part of this would be credited to the Bulls' backroom staff, who have given special focus to their nutrition & fitness, exemplified by roping in leading sports nutrition brand Fast&Up as their Nutrition Partner for the season.

Here is what Dr. Arvind Yadav, Head Physiotherapist for Bengaluru Bulls has to say about Fast&Up's contribution in the team's fitness.

As they exit the tournament at the penultimate hurdle, let us have a look at how the Bengaluru Bulls fared this season.

The team played 24 matches during the three-month long season and won 12 matches while the opponents fared better than them 11 times. Their best score this season was in the record-breaking match against Haryana Steelers in Panchkula where they hammered the home team 59-36. Pawan Sehrawat was on his game as he single-handedly put the Steelers to the sword, scoring a league record 39 raid points. The Steelers had no answer to Pawan as he relentlessly accumulated the points, showcasing his tremendous fitness by going for an astonishing 38 raids. This match also was their biggest win margin this season as they got the better off the Steelers by a massive 23 points.

Let's recap their season in numbers:

Bengaluru Bulls Stats This Season

Attack Statistics

1004 – Total Raids attempted by the team

408 – Successful Raids carried out by the team

267 – Unsuccessful raids of Bulls

329 – Empty raids where no points were scored

52% - Successful raids percentage

14 – Total number of Super Raids carried out by the Bulls

394 – Raid touch points

131 – Bonus points earned by raiders during the raid

525 – Total raid points earned by raiders of Bengaluru Bulls

Defence Statistics

564 – Total tackles by defenders

204 – Successful tackles by Bulls

360 – Unsuccessful tackles

41% - Percentage of successful tackles by the team

30 – Super tackles carried out by defenders

29 – All outs inflicted to opponents during the season

58 – Total all out points gained by the team

230 – Total defence points earned by defenders of Bengaluru Bulls

Best Individual Performances

Best Bengaluru Bulls Raider – Pawan Kumar Sehrawat with 346 raid points

Best Bengaluru Bulls Defender – Mahender Singh with 61 tackle points

Best Bengaluru Bulls All Rounder – Ashish Kumar with 6 points

Bengaluru Bulls bowed out from the semi-finals to Dabang Delhi K.C. by 38-44 after full-time. Pawan Sehrawat was again the top scorer of the match with 18 raid points from 20 raids.

The team will now go on a well-deserved rest after a physically demanding season. The Bulls coped with the busy schedule extremely well, a great endorsement for Fast&Up on how their nutritional supplements helped the players achieve their peak performance levels.