Bengaluru Bulls will kickstart its quest for a maiden title when it takes on Telugu Titans in its Pro Kabaddi League season 9 (PKL 9) opener on October 7 at the Shree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru.Bengaluru Bulls made a bold move ahead of the auctions when they released their MVP, Pawan Sehrawat. The side chose to not retain him and instead replaced him with Vikash Kandola. The Bulls signed Vikash for a whopping 1.70 crore, making him the PKL's second-most expensive player.Speaking exclusively on Star Sports show 'Total KBD - Asli Panga', Bengaluru Bulls Coach Randhir Singh, star raider Vikash Kandola and players from the Bengaluru Bulls team spoke about Vikash's addition to the franchise and what he brings to the squad.
Coach Randhir Singh said, "I thought that I should get Vikash into the team because it was his dream to play under me. I had a budget of 1.10 or 1.20 for Vikash, but we desperately needed an A-Grade player and we weren't getting any, so I went ahead with him."On his new stint with Bengaluru Bulls, Vikash said, "Even I didn't know when I would get an opportunity to play under Coach Randhir. This time, I have got an opportunity, and I will try and learn new skills and do things differently. My job is that wherever and whenever possible, I will try and support the team in any way I can so that it's beneficial for the team. And as a senior raider, my job is to try and make the other raiders understand what needs to be done in different situations of the match." With an average of 7.69 raid points per match for the Haryana Steelers, Vikash was able to guide them to the Playoffs on three occasions, with some stellar performances throughout his tenure with the franchise. Vikash spent a major portion of last season on the mat with 68.55% of mat time which soaked up a lot of pressure for his team. With Pawan Sehrawat now gone, it is time for Vikash to take over the reins and help the Bengaluru Bulls in their journey to become champions of PKL Season 9.