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Bengaluru Bulls won the sixth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), emerging triumphant in the 2018-19 season.
However, the Bulls have never been able to lift the PKL title since then. Despite having some of the top players of the league in their squad, Bengaluru has failed to capture the championship.
Head coach Randhir Singh Sehrawat has assembled a stellar squad for the Bengaluru Bulls ahead of the PKL 10 season. The team, listed below, looks quite strong on paper:
Bharat, Vikash Khandola, Yash Hooda, Md. Liton Ali, Aditya Powar, Parteek, Arulnanthababu, Ankit, Rohit Kumar, Ran Singh, Monu, Piotr Pamulak, Abhishek Singh, Banty, Neeraj Narwal, Sushil, Akshit, Surjeet Singh, Vishal, Rakshith, Ponparthiban Subramanian, Saurabh Nandal, Aman, Sunder and Sachin Narwal.
The Bengaluru Bulls will begin their season against the Gujarat Giants on December 3. As they gear up to pursue their first title since 2019, here's a SWOT analysis of their squad.
Strengths - Settled raiding trio and reliable corner defenders
The Bulls have two big strengths.
The first of these is their settled raiding trio in Bharat Hooda, Vikash Khandola and Neeraj Narwal. The three raiders played as a unit in PKL 9 and destroyed many defensive units.
The Bulls also have a reliable corner duo in the form of Saurabh Nandal and Aman Antil. Both defenders have played a big role in Bengaluru's PKL success over the last few seasons, finishing with around 50 tackle points each every season.
Nandal and Antil share a great partnership, and they can give sleepless nights to any raiding unit with their tackling skills.
Weakness - Inexperienced backups for cover defenders
The only weakness in the Bengaluru Bulls' squad is that they do not have proper backups for the cover defenders. Vishal Lather and Surjeet Singh will likely be the two cover defenders for the Bulls in their starting seven.
However, if one of the two defenders fails to get going or suffers an injury, Bengaluru don't seem to have a dependable backup.
Ponparthiban Subramanian seems to be their backup for Surjeet, while Aditya Powar and Rohit Kumar are the backup options for left cover. All three players lack sufficient experience to be considered ideal backups.
Opportunities - Golden chance for Abhishek Singh and Banty Bazzad
Abhishek Singh is a former vice-captain of U Mumba. He was the lead raider of the Mumbai-based franchise not long ago, but endured a forgettable season with the Telugu Titans in PKL 9.
This led to not many teams showing interest in his services at the PKL 10 Auction. However, Randhir Singh Sehrawat roped in Abhishek at the auction. The Bengaluru Bulls coach also retained tall raider Banty Bazzad.
PKL 10 will be a long season. It will offer Abhishek a chance to revive his career and Banty to establish himself as a match-winner.
Threats - The Surjeet Singh Gamble
Surjeet Singh recently won the Asian Games 2023 gold medal with the Indian team and is one of the best defenders in the world.
However, Surjeet had a horrendous season with the Telugu Titans in PKL 9. In 13 matches, he only scored 17 tackle points. He attempted 51 tackles, with his tackle strike rate hovering at less than 30%.
If Surjeet fails to get going in the right cover position for the Bengaluru Bulls, they could struggle to contend for the title.
