PKL 2021: Patna Pirates v/s Bengal Warriors - Preview, Expected 7, Live streaming, Players to Watch out, Head to head, Key battle

Strategic takeaways

Defending champions kick-started their title defense campaign in style but have since suffered some turbulent times with consecutive defeats in previous fixtures. BC Ramesh may bring back ace left corner Rinku Narwal in the Starting 7 replacing Sachin Vittala who had a forgettable debut for the franchise. Meanwhile, Pirates ticked all boxes in a comfortable victory over Puneri Paltan as every Patna player from Starting 7 took at least a point.

Head to Head

Bengal Warriors initiated this rivalry defeating Patna in the very first encounter between them. Then Patna brought the ball in their court and went on an eight-match undefeated streak against the neighbourhood rivals. This streak was finally broken by the resurrected Bengal Warriors side in season five.

Overall H2H record:

17 - Matches

10 - Patna Pirates

4 - Bengal Warriors

3 - Tie

When to watch?

It is the second game of the last PKL matchday of the year 2021. The high-voltage encounter is expected to begin at 8:30 PM IST just right after the conclusion of the first game between Tamil Thalaivas and Puneri Paltan on 31st December of 2021.

Live Streaming

All the matches are expected to be broadcast on the Star Sports Network on television. You can also tune in to Disney+Hotstar for live streaming.

Expected 7

Patna Pirates:

Monu Goyat (Raider)

Sachin Tanwar (Raider)

Prashanth Kumar Rai (Raider)

Sajin Chandrasekhar (Left Cover)

Neeraj Kumar (Right Cover)

Mohammadreza Shadloui (Left Corner)

Sunil (Right Corner)

Squad: Prashanth Kumar Rai (C), Neeraj Kumar (VC), Sachin Tanwar, Monu Goyat, Selvamani K, Monu, Rajveer Chavan, Guman Singh, Rohit, Mohit, Mohammadreza Shadloui, Sajin Chandrasekar, Sahil Mann, Daniel Omondi, Shubham Shinde, Sourav Gulia, Sandeep, Manish, Sunil

Bengal Warriors:

Maninder Singh (Raider)

Sukesh Hegde (Raider)

Mohammad Nabibakhsh (Raider)

Vijin Thangadurai (Left Cover)

Darshan J (Right Cover)

Rinku Narwal (Left Corner)

Abozar Mighani (Right Corner)

Squad: Maninder Singh (C), Rishank Devadiga, Sukesh Hegde, Ravindra Kumawat, Akash Pikalmunde, Anand V, Sumit Malik, Moein Nabibakhsh, Manoj Gowda, Rohit, Abozar Mighani, Rinku Narwal, Sachin Vittala, Darshan J, Vijin Thangadurai, Rohit Banne, Parveen, Amit

Players to Watch out For

Maninder Singh (Bengal Warriors)

Monu Goyat (Patna Pirates)

Mohammad Nabibakhsh (Bengal Warriors)

Sachin Tanwar (Patna Pirates)

Abozar Mighani (Bengal Warriors)

Key Battle

Maninder Singh vs Mohammadreza Shadloui

Maninder Singh commenced the season eight campaign scoring 8-8 raid points in the first two matches. Mani broke the Super 10 deadlock by achieving the milestone in the next two consecutive games with a whopping 33 raid points. Unfortunately, this raiding masterclass from Maninder came in losing causes for his side. He will be eying on this fixture to complete the hat-trick of 15+ raid points in a match.

Maninder will involve in a direct battle with Patna's left corner Mohammadreza Shadloui Chianeh. The Iranian all-rounder has been the best Pirates defender this season so far. He has scored 12 tackle points from three games averaging 4 tackle points per match which is the highlight in the league. Mohammadreza will leave no stone unturned to startle the Warriors of the land of Bengal.