PKL 9 Bengaluru Leg: Manjeet Chhillar disappointed with Telugu Titans' defence

The legendary defender has failed to inspire the team's tacklers so far.

Telugu Titans are continuing their bad run from season 8 after shuffling the entire core squad in Pro Kabaddi League PKL season 9. Manjeet Chhillar was appointed the assistant coach and was instrumental in selecting players in the auctions. The squad consisted of experienced players having played for multiple franchises but still, the southern team could win only one game in the first seven encounters.

Manjeet Chhillar after selecting a promising squad has the task cut in the Pune leg and is currently in the 12th spot in the points table.

Results in PKL 9 Bengaluru Leg:

• Match 1: Bengaluru Bulls 34 - 29 Telugu Titans

• Match 2: Telugu Titans 25 - 45  Bengal Warriors

• Match 3: Patna Pirates 21 - 30 Telugu Titans

• Match 4: Telugu Titans 26 - 46  Dabang Delhi KC

• Match 5: Telugu Titans 25 - 26 Puneri Paltan

• Match 6: Jaipur Pink Panthers 51 - 27 Telugu Titans

• Match 7: Telugu Titans 24 - 43 Haryana Steelers

Positives

With injuries adding to their poor form, the team has nothing to lose and can be more aggressive without staying back. With only one-third of the PKL 9 league being completed Telugu Titans can still crawl to the playoffs spot winning a few matches. Only ten points are separating Haryana Steelers (6th) from Telugu Titans (12th) which is not a huge margin with anything being possible going forward.

Negatives

The defence has been a flop having four experienced defenders. The problem is not all have played together before which has led to many unsuccessful tackles.

The raiding too has not looked good with Monu Goyat, and Siddharth Dessai scoring points inconsistently. 

Top Performer

None of the players performed well on a consistent basis both in the raiding and defence departments. Siddharth Dessai has represented the Telugu Titans twice and is also back from an injury and is the top raider ahead of experienced Monu Goyat. Monu Goyat was in decent form representing Patna Pirates last season but isn't able to perform the same in season 9. Rajnish after being brought in as a substitute in the opening encounter turned suffered an injury along with Abhishek Singh who hasn't played a single match. Overall the team’s performance is well below average, having the most experienced players in the league.

Under Performer

There are many who have underperformed especially the defence department of Manjeet Chhillar's side. Ravinder Pahal who was given the responsibility of captain should have taken more responsibility and played sensibly which he didn't. Also, Ravinder Pahal had the three most experienced defenders alongside him with none of them able to put up a good show. Due to Pahal’s inconsistency, Surjeet Singh was given the captaincy in between. Overall, the defender has scored only one point from the four matches in the Bengaluru leg.

Conclusion

Having already played seven matches, Telugu Titans could only muster a single win with seven points in PKL 9. There are more than 15 matches left across two legs and are only ten points away from the playoffs spot. So Titans have nothing to lose but to put in a good team effort and perform better than the Bengaluru leg.