Kabaddi
PKL 2021: Telugu Titans - Preview, Squad, Expected 7, Schedule
With a new-look squad can the Telugu Titans qualify for their first-ever PKL final?
Telugu Titans squad (Source: Telugu Titans)
Telugu Titans' PKL journey has been filled with a lot of ups and downs. In their seven Pro Kabaddi campaigns, Titans witnessed many iconic players donning yellow colours. But the Yellow Army couldn't even manage to qualify for finals once.
Even their new poster boy Siddharth Sirish Desai couldn't change the fortunes last season. They finished their season seven campaign in 11th position winning just six from 22 games. Titans will once begin their campaign in the hope to bring Pro Kabaddi League trophy to their land.
Over-reliance on Rahul Chaudhari in past and recently on Siddharth Desai were major reasons for their failure. Hence Titans entered into the auction field with a dedicated strategy to counter this issue. They removed few crucial players from the roster and tried their best to replace them in numbers.
Jagdish Kumble is set to proceed as the head coach replacing Iranian gaffer Gholamreza Mazandarani. Kumble arrived at Telugu Titans in season seven after having a successful stint with Bengal Warriors. His balanced tactics and stagnant game approach is widely acclaimed in Pro Kabaddi League.
Captain cool and Bahubali together!
Rohit Kumar's raiding and leadership abilities complete the Telugu Titans squad. He will provide the much-needed support to Siddharth 'Bahubali' Desai. The Pro Kabaddi universe will witness these two iconic raiders teaming up for the first time. The 'Ro-Sid' duo has a combined sum of whopping 1,152 PKL points between them. There will be a tough fight among promising raiders Rajnish Dalal, Rakesh Gowda and Galla Raju to take the third raider spot.
The return of Sandeep Kandola
Titans will field an entirely overhauled defence for the season eight battle. The forgotten star left corner Sandeep Kandola is making his comeback to the league after the gap of six years. Sandeep had a stellar solitary debut season with Telugu scoring second-most tackle points (59). He will be accommodated by Kolhapuri right corner Ruturaj Koravi who was part of Gujarat Giants for the last two seasons.
Telugu Titans management decided to keep veteran cover defender C Arun in the squad. He will keep the left cover position with the brutal Surinder Singh on right. The aggressive right cover has bowed out of U Mumba camp for the first time in PKL to join his former teammate Siddharth Desai at Titans. The Yellow Army also retained young dynamic defender Akash Arsul who plays on both sides of the cover defense.
Telugu Titans expected Starting7
Siddharth Desai (Raider)
Rohit Kumar (Raider)
Rajnish Dalal / Rakesh Gowda (Raider)
C Arun (Left Cover)
Surinder Singh (Right Cover)
Sandeep Kandola (Left Corner)
Ruturaj Koravi (Right Corner)
Announced fixtures
Tamil Thalaivas - 22 December 2021
Puneri Paltan - 25 December 2021
Haryana Steelers - 28 December 2021
Bengaluru Bulls - 1 January 2022
Patna Pirates - 3 January 2022
Dabang Delhi KC - 5 January 2022
U Mumba - 8 January 2022
Gujarat Giants - 11 January 2022
UP Yoddha - 15 January 2022
Bengal Warriors - 17 January 2022
Jaipur Pink Panthers - 19 January 2022
Squad
Raiders- Rohit Kumar (C), Siddharth Desai, Rajnish Dalal, Rakesh Gowda, Galla Raju, Ankit Beniwal, Amit Chauhan, Hyunsu Park
Defenders- Surinder Singh, Ruturaj Koravi, Sandeep Kandola, C Arun, Akash Arsul, Adarsh T, Akash Chaudhari, Manish, Prince, Abe Tetsuro
