PKL 10: Top five players Tamil Thalaivas should retain

These players helped the team in a successful comeback last season.

Don't dwell on the past, but learn lessons from it and keep pushing yourself forward. This, in a nutshell, is a story of Tamil Thalaivas, who had a great outing in PKL season 9 where the team sparkled as the dark horse despite losing their superstar player Pawan Sehrawat who missed out the whole season due to an injury.The team wasn't upto the mark in the first leg but right after the southern derby team entered into the second leg, there was chutzpah seen in each player.

Thalaivas finished as the semifinalist by winning 10 out of 22 matches also equalising four games. If we see the antecedent landscape, Thalaivas was one of the few teams that didn't make it to the semifinals before the last PKL season but their stellar performance turned the tide in their favour the previous year.

Last year, after the team lost Pawan Sehrawat due to injury, the major concern was the leadership in the raiding department. At that time, their youthful players performed admirably and accomplished the task for their squad, living up to the management's expectations. Sagar and Ajinkya Pawar did a fantastic job as the team's leaders, while Ashan Kumar, the team's coach, was able to rally the players following the team's early collapse.

With the much-awaited PKL season 10 in line, there will be an obvious bid over some players but some star players should be retained for the upcoming season as well. Let us tell you about the top 5 players who could likely get a chance to sail along with the Thalaivas in PKL 10.

5. Himanshu

Left corner specialist, Himanshu is not just an emphatic defender but also a utility raider. Last season he supported Sahil Gulia and Sagar well in defence. However, he was also the third-best raider for the T² with 45 raid points. Himanshu played a total of 23 matches and altogether scored 60 points.

4. Sahil Gulia

With 57 tackle points, Sahil Gulia emerged as Thalaivas' top defender after displaying outstanding play. In Sagar's absence, he assumed control of the defence and also proved his mettle. Due to his performance last year, Sahil could be a player Tamil will look to bet on in the upcoming season.

3. Narender Kandola

Narender was Thalaivas' notable performer in PKL 9. The rookie has shown excellent maturity by scoring 243 raid points. The young man made Pro Kabaddi history by amassing the most raid points by a Tamil Thalaivas raider in a season. Narender proved to be a great finding of the season as he remained on the list of best raiders of PKL 2022. Narender also scored 40 points in do-or-die situations which shows that he has caliber to play well and composed under pressure situations.

2. Sagar

Sagar single-handedly led Tamil Thalaivas to victory in several matches, Especially on such occasions when his team was close to being all out. He played 17 matches last year where he grabbed 53 tackle points and also nailed 5 high-fives. The yellow army will not want to lose a hefty player at any cost and therefore Sagar could be a pick that could be retained by the Tamil Thalaivas.

1. Pawan Sehrawat

Tamil Thalaivas started buzzing from the auction itself as they surprised everyone by buying Pawan Sehrawat for Rs 2.26 crore.  Thalaivas bid fiercely for Pawan Sehrawat and made him the costliest player in PKL history.  However, Pawan was ruled out early due to injury and could not play any match after that.  But considering the kind of performance Pawan Sehrawat has done in PKL history, Tamil Thalaivas must retain him for PKL 10.  He has the ability to single-handedly win matches for the team.

For Tamil Thalaivas, the ninth season of the Pro Kabaddi was unquestionably the best. They bounced back effectively from some early setbacks and produced a noteworthy performance against all odds to make it a great season. If they want to continue the momentum of last year, these five players should be in the retention list of the team for PKL season 10.