PKL 11 team profile: Tamil Thalaivas strengths & weaknesses

Thalaivas have brought the most expensive player in this year’s auction.

Kabaddi and Tamil Nadu are two synchronous words for years and it was a surprise when the Pro Kabaddi League was announced in 2014, that no team was representing this part of the region. While it could be for multiple administrative reasons, one of the first things that happened when the league expanded in 2017 was to bring a team from Tamil Nadu named Tamil Thalaivas.

It had a huge launch with India’s World Cup hero Ajay Thakur drafted as the team’s icon player. The ownership of the team had many stars including Sachin Tendulkar. Tamil Thalaivas played the opening encounter of the season and the finals were scheduled to be played in Chennai.

But all that mattered was the performance on the mat and it turned out to be disappointing as they finished as wooden spooners in their first three seasons. They had to wait till season nine before securing their first playoff spot. Having retained most of the core and with some big buys in the Auction, the fans would be hoping to repeat the same in the upcoming season.

Let’s look at the team composition, the strengths, and weaknesses of Tamil Thalaivas.

Strengths

The success of franchise sides across leagues relies heavily on the continuity of players. With the dynamics of Auction/draft teams tend to get new squads and they have to build a winning combination from scratch. Having realized it was one of the reasons for the downfall in their first three seasons, Tamil Thalaivas have adopted a strategy to retain their core.

Especially their defensive quartet of Sagar Rathee, Sahil Gulia, Mohit, and M Abhishek. These four defenders will be playing together for the fourth consecutive season. Over the years, the league has seen them contribute immensely to the success of the team. Making his debut in season seven, Sagar Rathee had a brilliant season eight with 74 points and has been consistent for the team.

Joining him at the other corner, Sahil Gulia has been constantly working towards improving himself and the last season saw him produce his best performance with 69 points. The cover combo of Mohit and Abhishek have been aggressive which saw them make it to the playoffs in season nine. The men in yellow will rely on them to click as a unit in this season.

Weaknesses

Tamil Thalaivas has more often than not got a decent side on paper. They have been represented by some of the top raiders the league has seen with Ajay Thakur, Jasvir Singh, Rahul Chaudhari, and Pawan Sehrawat. But it never turned out the way they expected, while Ajay fought a lone battle, Jasvir and Rahul came when they had past their prime. Pawan was lost to an injury in the first 10 minutes of the season.

This year have roped in Sachin Tanwar and would be hoping to forge a partnership with Narender Kandola. Coach Uday Kumar would want these two to strike big and stay fit throughout the season as they don’t have huge backups for the same. A late replacement of Chandran Ranjit might sound good, but in a long season which is also cramped Thalaivas would love to have more backups.

Opportunities

All the pre-auction shows predicted Sachin Tanwar to go for big bucks but none predicted him to be the most expensive player of the auction. The tall raider deserved the price as he has been one of the most consistent raiders in the league. Out of the six seasons he has played, five seasons have seen him score over 170 points.

Despite impressive stats, he hasn’t been able to lift the PKL trophy. He was unlucky to end up on the wrong side in three PKL finals. Sachin would be hoping to break the jinx not only for himself but also for Tamil Thalaivas. With a quality defensive unit, if the pair of Sachin and Narender strikes, then it could be a great opportunity to lay their hands on the title.

Threats

Consistency is key in Kabaddi as one move could change the course of the match. The story of many games for Tamil Thalaivas over the years has been giving away the lead in the second half. The inconsistency of cover defenders is a point of concern for Thalaivas and strategy coach Dharmaraj Cheralathan will look to get the act right.

Both Mohit and Abhishek have given away points due to a lack of execution in advanced tackles. That has caused a demoralizing effect on the team and the men in yellow should be aware of the threat. If the duo can curb their instincts, and improve their strike rate with precise tackles, then Thalaivas would find themselves on the right side of the results.

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