Last year, Bengaluru Bulls defeated Gujarat Fortuegiants in the Pro Kabaddi League final thanks to Pawan Sehrawat's brilliance. This time, they face the Sunil Kumar-led side with the intent of continuing their good start to the season. In their first game, the Bulls registered an uplifting win over 2017 champions Patna Pirates at the Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad. The Fortunegiants have reached the final in the last two seasons.
When and where to watch
The live coverage of the match would commence at 7:20 PM IST and would be available in both English and Hindi along with several regional languages through Star network. The main channels telecasting the game would be Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports First, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 2 HD and Star Sports 1 Hindi HD.
For online viewers, the platform for live streaming is Hotstar.
Preview
Last year's hero Pawan Sehrawat has a reputation, grounded in stats, of coming into his own in the latter half of the game. This was evident in the very first match of the season for Bulls also. After being relatively quiet for most part of the game against Patna Pirates, Sehrawat, now described as the 'high-flyer' due to his ability to jump over defenders, starting racking up the points in late stages of the game.
But the real stars of the match were the defenders of 2018 champion side. Amit Sheoran, Ashish Sangwan and Mahender Singh helped their team make an impressive comeback after being behind in the first half. So tight was their literal and figurative grip that even the master raider Pardeep Narwal fell on more than one occasion to their tackles.
On the other hand, Supergiants were known for their strong defence in their first season – 2017 – but seem to have a much more well-rounded side since that time. They will be relying on their efficient raiding duo of Sachin Tanwar and Rohit Gulia. Their captain Sunil would be a key presence in the defence. There is a new Iranian import for the team in the form of Abolfazl Maghsodloumahali. It was the Iranian defence duo of Fazel Atrachalli and Abozar Meghani that proved crucial to their success in the 2017 season. Whether Abolfazl can fill those big shoes remains to be seen. With last year's final fresh in the minds of both teams, this game should be exciting.
