Tamil Thalaivas release coaches Dharmaraj Cheralathan & J Udaya Kumar ahead of PKL 12

In PKL 11, Tamil Thalaivas finished ninth in the table.

The Tamil Thalaivas, who had opted for an interesting dual head coach system at the start of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 11 (PKL), have decided to release Dharmaraj Cheralathan and J Udaya Kumar. They have appointed two-time PKL trophy-winning coach Sanjeev Baliyan, who will be taking over the reins in the next edition.

While the league has seen dual captaincy before, this was the first time that a team had appointed two coaches. Unfortunately for them, things did not go according to plan. They had secured the services of Sachin Tanwar, who secured the highest bid at the auction. With the likes of Narender Kandola, Sagar, and Sahil Gulia, the Thalaivas were anointed as a title-favourite at the beginning of the season.

Also Read: List of coaches released ahead of PKL 12

However, things turned sour after starting the season with two consecutive wins. Captain Sagar got injured in the opening match and did not play any matches after that. Sachin Tanwar was horrendously out of form. Narender was also not at his best and while he was slowly regaining his rhythm, he was ruled out due to injury.

Also Read: Three teams who should change their head coach for PKL 12

All strategies went awry, and the team never really gained any momentum. While they necessarily didn’t have big losing streaks, they could secure consecutive victories for the second time only at the end of the season.

The season was somewhat salvaged by the versatility of defender Nitesh Kumar (77 tackle points- third highest in the season) and the unpredictability of raider Moein Shafaghi. However, Tamil Thalaivas still finished ninth in the table, with 50 points, playing out eight wins, thirteen losses, and one tie.

It is also worth noting that coaches Cheralathan, one of the greatest right corners in the league’s history, and Udaya Kumar, a former Indian National team coach, didn’t display patience in the face of adversity. The raiders were rotated far too often and by the time they zeroed down upon the Iranian Shafaghi as the lead raider, it was too late.

Similarly, while the Thalaivas finished second in the list of most team tackle points, they were guilty of making too many mistakes. One of the main reasons for that was the chopping and changing done, especially in the cover positions, which meant that the defensive combination could never settle down. The team will now be looking forward to a fresh start under the leadership of coach Baliyan.

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