PKL5 Match 123 preview: Bengal Warriors v Tamil Thalaivas

Date: 13th October
Time: 9PM IST (4:30PM BST)
Venue: Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune
Zone: B

Form

The second game of the night is a zone B match between Bengal Warriors and Tamil Thalaivas. Bengal will want to win to try and keep their top place whilst Tamil Thalaivas are playing for pride.

Bengal Warriors: WWLWD
Tamil Thalaivas: WLLLL
(last 5 games most recent first, W = won, D = draw, L = lost)

Match Prediction

Bengal Warriors are only 2 points ahead of Patna Pirates and will need to win their last two games to try and keep their top spot. Although in the last match between these two sides Bengal came out as the losers. Its been a very successful season for Bengal Warriors so far and they will look to finish strong.

Tamil Thalaivas had a torrid home leg losing all of their matches however they managed to beat U Mumba in a thrilling encounter last time out. They were also the last team to beat Bengal Warriors and could really trouble them especially when they are playing without any pressure.

It is going to be a good battle between Ajay Thakur and Surjeet and this will be a key battle. Bengal have seemingly fixed the right side of the defence and Shrikant is playing much better but he will be tested against K. Prapanjan. I think Bengal will edge this one since there is a lot at stake.

Prediction: Bengal Warriors 35-30 Tamil Thalaivas

Players to watch

  • For Bengal Warriors Maninder has been hugely impressive scoring 160 raid points in 18 matches.
  • In defence watch out for Surjeet in the cover position he has 62 tackle points in 20 matches.
  • For Tamil Thalaivas Ajay Thakur has had a great season scoring 185 raid points in 20 matches.
  • In defence Amit Hooda has impressed picking up 54 tackle points in 20 matches.

Team News and Predicted Line-ups

Bengal Warriors rested Jang Kun Lee, Deepak Narwal and Ran Singh last time out and all 3 could return for this match. And I would expect Maninder, Surjeet, Young Chang Ko and Shrikant Tewthia to start as well.

Tamil Thalaivas will have Ajay Thakur and K. Prapanjan lead the raiding lineup with Amit Hooda and Darshan J in defence. C. Arun returned to the lineup last time out and will continue, and Vijin Thangadurai took the corner position. The third raiding role went to Vineet Kumar.

Bengal Warriors: Maninder Singh, Jang Kun Lee (✈️), Young Chang Ko (✈️), Surjeet Singh (C), Shrikant Tewthia, Ran Singh, Deepak Narwal.

Tamil Thalaivas: Amit Hooda, Ajay Thakur (C), K Prapanjan, C. Arun, Vineet Kumar, Darshan J., Vijin Thangadurai.

Dream11 Fantasy Picks

This new section is just my picks for the Dream11 fantasy game, if a player doesn’t do well then don’t hold me accountable because it is just an opinion! If you haven’t already check out my Dream11 Fantasy Kabaddi Tips first before reading below.

  • Definite players to pick for this match are raiders Ajay Thakur and all rounder Maninder Singh.
  • In defence I’d suggest picking at least one of either Surjeet or Amit Hooda.
  • For the differential players you might want to consider Darshan J, K. Prapanjan, Shrikant Tewthia.
  • Darshan J has scored 9 tackle points in the last two matches, K. Prapanjan is inconsistent but can score a lot of raid points if he plays well he picked up 6 points last time out, Shrikant Tewthia has improved and picked up 6 points in the last match and will look to continue his form.
  • I’d suggest going for 3 raiders and 1 or 2 all rounders.

For this match I have gone with raiders K. Prapanjan, Ajay Thakur and Deepak Narwal. Deepak Narwal is a risk and might not even play but I think he should return for this one. My all rounders are Maninder Singh and Shrikant Tewthia, and in defence I have Surjeet and Darshan J.

Alternatively you can swap Prapanjan with Amit Hooda or C. Arun in defence. The vice captain and captain is interchangeable but I’m going with Ajay Thakur as captain and Maninder as vice captain.

SPKabaddi’s seven: Ajay Thakur (C), Maninder Singh (VC), Deepak Narwal, Shrikant Tewthia, Surjeet, K. Prapanjan, Darshan J.