Back to the drawing board for Telugu Titans after another disappointing season

They had many experienced players in their side.

Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season 9 was Telugu Titans' worst season finishing in the twelfth spot with just two wins and twenty losses. The team had a good time at the auctions having brought in many experienced players but barring a few none stood up and performed. The defence in particular was way below par putting in advanced tackles and gifting points. A lot was expected from Manjeet Chhillar who was the assistant coach and was one of the important members at the auction table. 

Top Performers

Parvesh Bhainswal

Parvesh Bhainswal the cover defender was the only player to breach the 50 tackle points mark and had a pretty good season. Bhainswal did not start the season on a positive note but caught up by playing regularly. The combo with Surjeet Singh could have been deadly which did not work out. Overall he was one of the players who stood up and performed on his own without much support.

Vishal Bharadwaj

Vishal Bharadwaj the right-corner defender was the second successful defender with 44 tackle points in 19 matches. Apart from a few good games where he was close to scoring ten tackle points most of his performances weren't consistent. Vishal is known for indulging in advanced tackles and in season 9 too there were tackles which could have been avoided but compared to other teammates he had a good season.

Siddharth Desai

Siddharth 'Bahubali' Desai was the only raider to score more than 100 raid points and scored a total of 144 points. He did not start the season well but after few matches scored five consecutive super 10s. After few good matches he was once again injured and couldn't continue playing thereafter. Overall he had a good season and could have scored more had he not suffered form injury. 

Underperformer of the season

Surjeet Singh

Surjeet Singh the cover defender scored only 19 points in 13 matches. He was made the captain in the between after Ravinder Pahal was injured but still couldn't play well with added responsibility. Surjeet played well for Tamil Thalaivas in the last season and is among the top 10 defenders in the Pro Kabaddi League. 

Manager’s report card

Manjeet Chhillar was coaching the side for the first half of the season with the head coach Venkatesh Goud taking over in the second half. Neither of them could create any impact even by trying out all the combinations possible. Telugu Titans were the only side to get knocked out before the last leg even started and this season by far was the most competitive season.

Lessons to be learned

Many believed Telugu Titans picked up an experienced squad and this will make them qualify for the playoffs but that was one of the reasons for them not playing well with none of the combinations looking lethal. They made the same mistake that Tamil Thalaivas made a few seasons ago that is by picking up a bunch of experienced players. The strategy should have been mixing youth and experience which could have given them positive results.