Pro-Kabaddi League 2019 Playoffs Schedule, Teams, Format and Fantasy League Predictions

The Pro Kabaddi 2019 schedule has been enervating and it has now boiled down to the playoffs which are the most vital part of the pro kabaddi league schedule.

Now, the pro Kabaddi 2019 schedule season 7 merits that the playoffs start from 14^th October, 2019 and there will be an entire week of games, ending on the 19^th of October, 2019 at TransStadia’s EKA Arena in Ahmedabad. The venue will have two eliminators, the semi-finals and the final match.

Teams and their qualification journey

The pro kabaddi playoffs teams 2019 are the following:

• UP Yoddha
• U Mumba
• Bengaluru Bulls
• Haryana Steelers
• Bengal Warriors
• Dabang Delhi

Dabang Delhi were the first team to qualify for the playoffs and were followed by Bengal Warriors, Haryana Steelers, UP Yoddha, U Mumba and Bengaluru Bulls respectively. The prize money for this season is Rs. 8 crore (consolidated) with the winner pocketing Rs. 3 crore and Rs. 1.8 crore for the runners-up. The teams placed 3^rd and 4^th will receive Rs. 90 lakh each while Rs. 45 lakh each will be given to the teams placed 5^th and 6^th.

The first eliminator is between UP Yoddha and Bengaluru Bulls while the second eliminator is between U Mumba and Haryana Steelers. The winners of the first eliminator will take on Dabang Delhi on 16^th October while Bengal Warriors will take on the winner of the second eliminator on the same date.

Also Read: Indian Super League 2019-20

The pro kabaddi 2019 Play-Off Format

The format is new this time around as compared to the zone-based bifurcation mechanism followed earlier. In the new mode, the top two teams (on the basis of points scored in the league stage) will directly advance to the semi-final matches. A double round-robin and playoff format is thus followed. The winners of the two eliminators will face the respective semi-finalists for a spot in the grand final on 19^th October, 2019.

Analysing the playoff teams

U Mumba– U Mumba has traditionally been a team that prides itself on defence and their raiders will be the game-changers if they have to progress. Abhishek Singh has been the star player for the team in the current season, having notched up 135 points in the league stage itself. Another good prospect is Arjun Deshwal who has notched up 5.0 as an average of raid points per game with 53 as his Raid strike rate. U Mumba’s biggest strength is their defender-skipper Fazel Atrachali who has 78 tackle points.

Haryana Steelers– Haryana Steelers has been a well-balanced team with all raiders contributing almost similarly. They have four raiders who have scored in excess of 60 raid points in the league stage itself. Vikas Kandola is a major factor that opposition teams will have to neutralize. He has 178 points with Vinay on 116, Prashanth Rai on 82 and Naveen on 63.

Bengaluru Bulls- The Bulls are one of the best raiding teams in the current season. Pawan Sehrawat is the star player for this team and the team averages almost 22 raid points in the season. Pawan has a strike rate of 74 and has accounted for 65% of the team’s raiding points alone! He has scored 10 Super 10s back to back! The Bulls have the best percentage (43%) for comeback victories in the current season, having won 3 out of 7 games where they were trailing by more than three points by the end of half-time.

UP Yoddha- UP Yoddha have Nitesh Kumar who is now playing spectacularly after an ordinary start to the season. He has scored 47 tackle points in only 11 matches. Sumit and Nitesh have 72 and 70 points respectively with 6.5 being the cumulative tackle point average which points to this team’s excellent defensive abilities. Amit (79) is the key assist provider for defence as well.

Bengal Warriors- They have a balanced team on paper but will be banking heavily on the fitness levels of star raider and captain Maninder Singh. If he is fully fit, then Bengal have a shot at the finals. Other key players include K Prapanjan, Rakesh Narwal, Mohammad Taghi and Naveen Narwal.

Dabang Delhi- Dabang Delhi has also progressed smoothly to the semi-finals and will be betting big on their balanced lineup. Joginder Singh Narwal is their captain and star defender in his own right. Other key players include Naveen Kumar Goyat, Neeraj Narwal, Sumit Kumar, Chandran Ranjit, Vishal Mane and Anil Kumar.

Fantasy League 2019 players and predictions

The Dream11 fantasy league predictions have also been released for the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 2019 playoffs.

• UP Yoddha vs. Bengaluru Bulls-

Result Prediction- Bengaluru Bulls.

Lineup Predictions-

UP Yoddha- Nitesh Kumar (D), Surender Gill (R), Ashu Singh (D), Shrikant Jadhav (R), Rishank Devadiga (R), Amit (D), Sumit (D).

Bengaluru Bulls- Saurabh Nandal (D), Mohit Sehrawat (D), Pawan Sehrawat (R), Sumit Singh (R), Amit Sheoran (D), Mahender Singh (D), Bunty (R).

Dream11 Team- Shrikant Jadhav (R), Nitesh Kumar (D), Pawan Sehrawat (R), Mahender Singh (D), Saurabh Nandal (D), Surender Gill (R), Sumit (D).

• U Mumba vs. Haryana Steelers-

Result Prediction- U Mumba

Lineup Predictions-

U Mumba- Sandeep Narwal (A), Arjun Deshwal (R), Surinder Singh (D), Harendra Kumar (D), Rohit Baliyan (R), Fazel Atrachali (D), Abhishek Singh (R).

Haryana Steelers- Vinay (R), Sunil (D), Vikas Kandola (R), Ravi Kumar (D), Vikas Kale (D), Dharmaraj Cheralathan (D), Prashanth Kumar Rai (R).

Dream11 Team- Abhishek Singh (R), Vikas Kandola (R), Fazel Atrachali (D), Arjun Deshwal (R), Dharmaraj Cheralathan (D), Sunil (D), Surinder Singh (D).

This is probably the most exciting week for PKL 2019 enthusiasts and fans as the playoffs get underway and with the semi-finals on the anvil, it remains to be seen which two teams ultimately make it to the final!