PKL Auctions | What clicked and what didn’t – Bengaluru Bulls

04/20/2019

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The PKL auctions are done and dusted for the upcoming seventh season which will be starting in three-month time. Bengaluru Bulls have accumulated a squad of 17 players and are getting ready to cross swords against the other teams in their title defence campaign during the 2019 PKL season.

Last season's performance:

After failing to make an impact in the first five seasons of the league, the Bengaluru-based team finally rose to their occasion to clinch their maiden title in the last edition after defeating Gujarat Fortunegiants in a thrilling final. Pawan Sehrawat, who scored an incredible 271 raid points, was the star performer for the Bulls in the raiding department which also had their skipper Rohit Kumar and Kashiling Adake.

With raiding being their biggest positive in the sixth edition, players like Amit Sheoran, Ashish Sangwan, Raju Lal Choudhary, and Mahender Singh fared well in the Bulls’ defence. The team had the services of two head coaches in the form of Randhir Singh Sehrawat and BC Ramesh in the successful campaign.

Positive takeaways from the auction:

Before the auctions, the Bulls had decided to retain their star performer from last season – Pawan, their last year’s skipper – Rohit and all-rounder Sangwan. This had made sure that the team had pretty much the three top players who played a crucial role in taking the team to a title win. Among the retained young players, defender Sheoran and Sumit Singh found themselves in the Bulls’ squad for the upcoming season. The team management managed to keep the core intact from season 6 by roping in defenders Mahender, Sandeep and Choudhary. The Bengaluru team used their Final Bid Match (FBM) card against Telugu Titans to get back left cover defender Mahender for Rs 80 lakhs and then Sandeep and Choudhary were signed for Rs 10 lakh each during the auctions.

Their player retention and performance at the auction table ensured that they have got a balanced combination in the defence for the upcoming season with two very good raiders in Pawan and Rohit. Sheoran and Choudhary can continue with their usual positions left and right corner respectively while Sangwan and Mahender will form the cover combination in the Bengaluru defence. The Bulls even have Vijay Kumar as another right corner defender who can take Choudhary’s place in few of the outings as well. They included Nepal’s all-rounder Sanjay Shreshta and raider Lal Mohar Yadav to complete their foreign players’ category during the auction.

Threats for the next season:

Their biggest asset might turn out to be their biggest threat very easily in the upcoming season. One of the major reasons for the Bulls’ title win in season 6 was the performance of Pawan who single-handedly took them to win. Although skipper Rohit is there in the team to assist him in the raiding department, the Bulls might miss the experience of Kashiling Adake as the third raider. Although they have Sumit Singh, who is a retained young player, the raiding strength will be hampered if any of the two get injured.

Bengaluru Bulls Squad:

Rohit Kumar, Pawan Kumar Sehrawat, Ashish Kumar, Amit Sheoran, Sumit Singh, Mohit Sehrawat, Banty, Mahender Singh, Vijay Kumar, Sanjay Shreshtha, Lal Mohar Yadav, Sandeep, Raju Lal Choudhary, Vinod Kumar, Aman, Ajay, Ankit