TEAM TRACKER: Bengaluru Bulls' bravado commendable, balance a concern in comeback campaign
IT'S TOUGH TO BE Bengaluru Bulls right now.
With a team of reasonable balance under the watchful eyes of Randhir Singh, they made a reasonable debut in the first PKL season, coming third in the league stage and losing to U Mumba in the semi-finals. In the second season, they hit a peak: reaching the final after finishing third in the league again, but losing once again to U Mumba.
It seemed like the Mumbai franchise was their achilles heel, and a rivalry developed between the two. So far U Mumba has dominated things, with 7 wins in the 8 encounters these two teams have had.
But in the third season, things hit rock bottom. Bengaluru lost their star raider Ajay Thakur and some other important players, ending up with a team that was lacking in experience and competent on-field leadership. And once the bad form kicked in, it was hard to shake it off. They finished 7th, with just 2 wins in 14 matches.
With the next season getting underway just about 3 months later, Bengaluru Bulls knew they had to do something radical to get out of this rut, and address the massive score differential of -102 of PKL 3. So they did.
They raided the ranks of their biggest rivals, U Mumba. A double coup in the auction saw the Bulls steal two of their defensive corner-stones. A Rs 53 lakh bid for Mohit Chillar, and a Rs 30 lakh shout for Surender Nada set the tone for a full-throttle comeback campaign. They, along with Jeeva Gopal and Manoj Kumar, form a fearsome foursome that will be the core of the Bengaluru defence in PKL 4.
But even before the start of the season, it's easy to tell that Bengaluru are going to be a defence-primary team. Other than Rohit Kumar, the raiders are an efficient bunch but lack the panache, or a knack for game-changing super raids. The likes of Deepak Kumar Dahiya, Pawan Kumar, Amit Rathi etc can be effective as to maintain a certain pace in the raiding game, and if the defence manages to keep the other team below that point, they will win. But a more versatile team like Telugu Titans or Puneri Paltan can really land them in trouble, especially since there aren't any prominent all-rounders in the team other than Sanjay Shrestha.
The young blood in the team is promising. Harish Naik, Sumit Singh, Ajay Singh and Nicholas George Mottram can flare up any time and if used wisely may prove to be efficient squad players that provide the missing link to a successful season. But much of that will be situational, and depend on the quick thinking of the coaching staff and, to some extent, luck.
And it's luck that may turn out to be the X factor for Bengaluru Bulls this season. An opponent raider falling an inch short, some unfortunate but fairly common injury-related absence and the Bulls could charge straight through a couple of crucial games and move up a few places in the points table. And with the twisty, thrilling brand of kabaddi that PKL exhibits, close finishes are common. So there's no telling what will happen once the league goes underway, and things like team spirit and momentum come into play.
What the Bengaluru team management must focus on right now is hope, and encouraging team unity. Kabaddi is a team sport, where gallantry and bravado from one player can go a long way to inspire his teammates to put in that extra desperate all-out effort and turn the game in their favour. That's what Pro Kabaddi is all about, and if Bengaluru Bulls can pull off such a thing, it will be a wonderful story for the fans to remember and re-tell for years to come.
