PKL 9: Telugu Titans to face Tamil Thalaivas in the southern derby

Titans have the upper hand in the head-to-head clashes.

Tamil Thalaivas are on a roll in the Pune Leg and are on a three-match unbeaten streak. It has been a long time since Tamil Thalaivas remained unbeaten across three matches showing positive signs of a comeback in Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 9. As usual Narender Kandola yet again scored a super 10 his fourth on the trot and has remained vital in the raiding department.

Telugu Titans after a long time showed some positive signs after losing by a close margin to U Mumba (37-40). Siddharth Desai was back to his usual form scoring a super 10 and was the lone raider battling till the end. Parvesh Bainswal scored his first high 5 scoring eight points overall. 

Team News

Tamil Thalaivas

Raiders: Pawan Sehrawat, Ajinkya Ashok Pawar, Himanshu, Jatin, Himanshu

All-rounders: Thanushan Laxmamohan, Visvanath V, K Abhimanyu

Defenders: Sagar, Sahil, M Abishek, Mohit, Himanshu, Ashish, Md Arif Rabbani, Arpit Saroha, Ankit

Telugu Titans

Raiders: Abhishek Singh, Monu Goyat, Siddharth Sirish Desai, Rajnish, Ankit Beniwal, Vinay, Aman Kadian.

Defenders: Surjeet Singh, Parvesh Bhainswal, Vishal Bhardwaj, Adarsh T, Ravinder Pahal, Vijay Kumar, Nitin, Mohit, Mohit Pahal. Muhammed Shihas S.

All-Rounders: Mohsen Maghsoudlou Jafari, K Hanumanthu, Hamid Mirzaei Nader, Ravinder.

Head to Head

Tamil Thalaivas and Telugu Titans have faced each other in ten matches at the Pro Kabaddi League out of which, Telugu Titans have won five matches whereas Tamil Thalaivas have come out victorious on four occasions with one game ending in a tie.

Player to watch

Siddharth Desai from Telugu Titans after a steady start to season 9 is slowly finding his old mojo back. The lanky raider scored 16 points against U Mumba and was instrumental in the end taking one point away from the encounter. In the initial matches, Desai scored 6 points on average but now needs to put in more effort on a consistent basis.

Abhishek the cover defender from Tamil Thalaivas has looked in good form after the appointment of coach Ashan Kumar. His average tackle points in the last few encounters have increased showing good signs. But the defender from Tamil Nadu needs to avoid putting in unsuccessful tackles which have been costing the team badly. 

Key to Success

Both Narender Kandola and Ajinkya Pawar combined have put in a good show but it is the defenders who are yet to fire in the last couple of matches. Sagar the second-best defender from season 8 is out of form along with Sahil Gulia. The duo of Sagar and Gulia need to combine together and put in successful tackles.

Telugu Titans will be happy to see Parvesh Bainswal and Siddhart Desai get back to form. If Ravinder Pahal plays tomorrow then he shall be careful of Narender Kandola who is good at taking bonuses frequently and keeps the scoreboard ticking. Keeping Narender quiet will be half job done for Telugu Titans.

Did you know

Narender Kandola is one point away from getting to the 100 raid points and will become the third player to cross the mark in season 9 with this being his maiden season.

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