Bengal Warriors

The Bengal Warriors kabaddi team is a franchisee of the Pro Kabaddi League and represents the state of West Bengal. Currently, the captain of the team is Maninder Singh under whose leadership Bengal Warriors were crowned champions in 2019 and claimed their maiden title.

As per their current standings, they are one of the strongest teams who are expected to deliver a strong game in the upcoming 2022 Pro Kabaddi League.

 

Bengal Warriors History

Bengal Warriors has seen many ups and downs throughout the various editions of the PKL. Although, the team has been more consistent in the last few editions of the PKL. Earlier during the first two seasons, the team had performed poorly and were unable to qualify for the playoffs.

But that changed at the beginning of the 2016 season when the team made the playoffs for the first time. After the 2016 season, the Bengal Warriors made consecutive entries to the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons.

Bengal Warriors Owners

Bengal Warriors Team is a franchisee playing in the Pro Kabaddi League owned by Future Group. The promoter is Kishore Biyani. Along with Future Group, Akshay Kumar, the famous Bollywood actor is also a co-owner of the team since 2017.

Bengal Warriors Match Schedule 2022

Bengal Warriors will begin their campaign of Pro Kabaddi League 2022 against Haryana Steelers. Let us have a look at the complete group stages schedule for Bengal Warriors matches-

Bengal Warriors Players

The current squad of the Bengal Warriors kabaddi team features their captain Maninder Singh who is also the frontline raider for the team. Here is a full list of players who will be playing for Bengal Warriors in Season 9 of the Pro Kabaddi league-

Bengal Warriors Best Players in Pro Kabaddi

The current Bengal Warriors team features some talented raiders, defenders, and all-rounders. In this section, we will find out the best raider and defender for the franchisee based on a combination of all 8 PKL seasons so far.

Maninder Singh (Best Raider)

Without a doubt, the best Raider for Bengal Warriors so far has been Maninder Singh who is the captain of the team. Roped in by the Bengal Warriors franchisee in 2017, Maninder’s career has blossomed from being an injury-prone player to being the Captain now.

Remember that it is under his captaincy that the Bengal Warriors kabaddi team went on to win the final in 2019.

In Season 5, his initial season with Bengal Warriors, he scored 190 raid points. In Season 6, he scored an amazing 206 raid points from 22 matches. In the same season, he made records for going past the 400 and 500 rapid points.

Season 7 was another spectacular season for Maninder as he was promoted to the captain of the Bengal Warriors Kabaddi team.

Baldev Singh (Best Defender)

Baldev Singh began his career in PKL starting Season 6. In his inaugural season, he scored 28 tackle points in Bengal Warriors matches. In season 7, he tallied a total of 66 tackle points for the Bengal Warriors. In that season, he played a pivotal role in Bengal Warrior’s defense, especially after the injury to Maninder.

Bengal Warriors: Stats

In the first two seasons, the team was miserable on the field and could only finish in the bottom places of the table. However, since the 2016 edition of the Pro Kabaddi League the squad was revamped. The team made some major changes bringing in class players. This was visible through the results as the team would go on to qualify for the playoffs for the first time the same year.

Thereafter, the team showed consistent performances in the PKL editions of 2017, 2018, and 2019. 2019 has so far been the best season for Bengal Warriors as they have been crowned champions of the PKL beating Dabang Delhi 39-34 in the finals.

At one stage, the team was training 3-11 with star raider and captain Maninder Singh on the bench due to injury. Despite this, the team made a spectacular comeback to win the PKL 2019 season for the first time ever. In the previous season, they had qualified for the finals by beating U Mumba.

Here is a look back at the points and ranks Bengal Warriors secured in every season of the PKL

Inaugural Edition - 2014 PKL Season

The inauguration of the PKL came to the limelight to enthrall kabaddi fans around the world. But for Bengal Warriors fans, the first season was anything other than full of despair.

The team could only secure a dismal 7th spot and out of 14 matches played, the team secured only 4 wins, 9 defeats, and 1 draw. This was only enough to secure a paltry 24 points, 21 points less than Patna Pirates, who secured the fourth playoff spot with a tally of 45 points. Jaipur Pink Panthers would eventually go on to win the season defeating U Mumba in the grand finale.

Season 2- 2015 PKL Season

The 2015 PKL season for the Bengal Warriors Kabaddi team was no different than the inaugural season. The team not just failed to reach the playoffs but once again occupied the 6th spot only, finishing above Dabang Delhi and Puneri Paltan.

The team could only secure 4 wins while suffering 9 defeats and 1 draw finishing with a total of 27 points. U Mumba would be crowned champions in the second edition of the PKL defeating Bengaluru Bulls in the final.

Season 3- 2016 PKL Season

Coming into the third season, the owners of the Bengal Warriors brought in young and talented players in the starting lineup and this immediately paid dividends as Bengal Warriors qualified for their maiden playoff stages securing fourth place in the group stages. This time the team ended the group stages with 9 wins and 5 defeats securing 47 points, their highest so far.

However, eventually, they had to go down against U Mumba in the pre-finals as they lost 29-41. Patna Pirates go on to eventually win their maiden title.

Season 4- 2016 PKL Season (June)

The 4th season of the PKL would be held in the same year but the performance of the Bengal Warriors was disastrous. The team looked shaky right from the first match and this was the story throughout the season.

They would finish at the bottom of the table. In the entire 14-match group stage, the team tasted victory only 3 times,  losing 9 and drawing two other matches.

Season 5- 2017 PKL Season 

The Season 5 of the PKL brought another successful season for the Bengal Warriors. This time around, they won their zone and finished at the top. Placed in Zone B alongside top teams like Patna Pirates and UP Yoddha, they secured first place in the inter and intra-zonal matches.

In a total of 22 matches, the team secured 11 wins, 6 draws, and five defeats with a total of 77 points. This was the best-ever group stage for the Bengal Warriors Kabaddi Team.

However, they had to taste defeat in the preliminary final going down to the eventual champions Patna Pirates in a close-fought match ending 44-47.

Season 6- 2018 PKL Season

Bengal Warriors matches had shown consistent performances, as the team once again finished second in their zone. This time, out of the total 22 matches (intra and inter-zonal matches played), the team scored 69 points with 12 wins and 8 defeats while drawing two.

Securing the second position in their zone, the team ended their elimination round early, going down against Dabang Delhi with a score of 29-38.  Bengaluru Bulls would be crowned the inaugural champions.

Season 7- 2019 PKL Season

To many's' surprise, he 2019 season was entirely dominated by the Bengal Warriors. The team finished the group stages in second place. In the league stages, the team secured 14 wins, and 3 draws while suffering 5 defeats. They went on smooth to win the finals by defeating Dabang Delhi in the finals with a scoreline of 39-34.  This was the team's maiden title.

Season 8- 2020 PKL Season

Coming back the next year as defending champions, unfortunately, Bengal Warriors did not show the same charismatic performances. Eventually, their lack of commitment would only be enough for the team to occupy a dismal 9th spot on the table with a total of 57 points. In the group stages, the team secured 9 wins and 3 draws while going down to opponents 10 times.

Bengal Warriors Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths of Bengal Warriors Team

The Bengal Warriors squad looks strong and equally potent in raid and defense. Captain Maninder Singh is the star raider in the front line-up along with other talented raiders such as Shrikant Yadav and Parshant Kumar.

The team’s defense will be led by veteran defender, Surender Nada along with Amit Sheoran, Parveen Satpal, Shubham Shinde, and the big Iranian Soleiman Pahlevani.

Bengal Warrior's biggest strength is in their quality all-rounders such as Deepak Niwas Hooda, Manoj Gowda, and Rohit.

Weaknesses of Bengal Warriors Team

Looking through a critic’s eye, Bengal Warriors lacks a top-class raider apart from Maninder and Shrikant. It has to be seen how the team can cope if either of the two gets injured during the long campaign.

The team could utilize another top-quality defender in their teams such as Sumit or Jaideep. As such, the defense may look a little vulnerable against attacking teams in the absence of Surender and Pahlevani.

One of the general weaknesses of the team has been the inability to snatch wins in the closing stages of a match. Somehow, the team needs to evolve its strategy in the last few minutes of a match when it is particularly tense and action-packed.

Bengal Warrior Records

• The Bengal Warriors team had their biggest win against UP Yoddha with a scoreline of 48-17.
• In their championship conquest in Season 7 during the 2019 PKL Edition, the team had a record-breaking 52% raid points.
• During the same year, they had an overall win percentage of 72.92, one of the highest ever.
• Maninder Singh is the best raider on the team with over 600 raid points so far.
• Their favorite opponents are Telugu Titans with whom they have an amazing record of 10 wins, four draws and only three defeats out of 17 meetings so far.
• The team’s best defender is Balwinder Singh.

Bengal Warriors FAQ’s