PKL 2021: Telugu Titans vs Tamil Thalaivas– Southern Derby on show as Pro Kabaddi League returns –Telugu Titans made an incredible comeback to draw Tamil Thalaivas 40-40 in the second match of Day 1 of Pro Kabaddi League season 8 held at The Sheraton Grand, Whitefield, Bengaluru on Wednesday. Manjeet again as the star of the show with Siddharth Desai leading the charge for the Titans. Follow Insidesport.in for all PKL 8 LIVE updates.
Manjeet was the star raider for the Thalaivas with a SUPER 10 (12 raid points) while Siddharth Desai, despite spending a lot of time away from the mat, clinched a crucial SUPER 10 (11 points) for the Titans. It was the Telugu Titans who impressed in the early stages of the match with Siddharth Desai and Rajnish clinching important raid points. At the other end, Sandeep Kandola was at the heart of everything positive the Titans did with their defense, which clinched them an ALL OUT in the 8th minute and open up a 7 point lead.
But the much-changed Tamil Thalaivas were in no mood to let the Titans run away with the lead. Solid tackling and sensible raiding helped them stay in striking distance. A 3-point Super Raid with 4 minutes remaining to halftime by Manjeet gave Thalaivas an opportunity to inflict an ALL OUT and they did so in the 18th minute to make the scores 20-20. The momentum helped the team from Tamil Nadu end the half with a 3 point lead (23-21). Captain Rohit Kumar’s absence due to a suspected injury meant Titans looked leaderless in the attack.
The second half saw both the teams matching each other with tackles. Manjeet and Prapanjan impressed with the raids with the former getting his SUPER 10 (10 or more points) with 10 minutes left on the clock. The Thalaivas clinched their second ALL OUT soon to make their lead 5 points.
It had seemed Surjeet Sigh and Sahil’s defensive work would see the Thalaivas through in the last minutes, but Siddarth Desai stepped up his game to inflict an ALL OUT on the Tamil Nadu with 2 minutes remaining and leveling the score. The Titans then produced a successful tackle on Manjeet in the last move of the match to seal an incredible comeback tie.
PKL 2021: Tamil Thalaivas, Telugu Titans play out nail-biting 40-40 tie, as PKL 8 makes blockbuster start
The second match of the opening day will see Telugu Titans take on Tamil Thalaivas in a Southern Derby. Both teams, despite having a plethora of talent, failed to impress in Season 7 and will be looking to set the records straight after a squad overhaul.
Telugu Titans will be hinging their hopes on the experienced raiding duo of Siddharth Desai and Rohit Kumar. But waiting for them in the Tamil Thalaivas corner will be ‘block’ master Surjeet who has the highest number (116) of successful blocks in PKL history.
The Thalaivas have a young pool of raiders in Manjeet and Atul M along with the experienced Prapanjan. Interestingly, all three aren’t known for their multi-point raids and the team will therefore be looking to keep the match a low-scoring affair with a compact defence.
PKL 2021: Telugu Titans vs Tamil Thalaivas– Southern Derby on show as Pro Kabaddi League returns – Follow LIVE Updates
The Telugu Titans have the overall advantage as far as head to head advantage is concerned, having won five of their eight encounters so far. However, that would count for very little with both teams having overhauled their squad before PKL season 8.
Before the season opener, Tamil Thalaivas captain Surjeet Singh said, “I think we have a young and talented squad this season, these youngsters have the capability to show their skill on the mat. We have been training hard under the guidance of Udaya sir and will aim to put our best on the big stage.”
Telugu Titans captain Rohit Kumar meanwhile added, “This season is very different from the previous one as there is a change in format of the league, it is a different setting that we are getting used to. We have a very well-rounded team with top talents that can make a huge impact on the games going forward. Our aim is to put our best on the mat and make our fans happy.”
PKL 2021: Telugu Titans vs Tamil Thalaivas– Southern Derby on show as Pro Kabaddi League returns – Follow LIVE Updates
Telugu Titans Squad
- Raider – Rakesh Gowda, Ankit Beniwal, Rajnish, Hyunsu Park, Siddharth Desai, Rohit Kumar, Amit Chauhan, G Raju
- Defender – Manish, Akash Choudhary, Akash Dattu Arsul, Abe Tetsuro, Surender Singh, Sandeep Kandola, Ruturaj Shivaji Koravi, Adarsh, C Arun
Tamil Thalaivas
- Defenders – Sagar, Himanshu, M. Abishek, Mohammad Tuhin Tarafder, Surjeet Singh, Mohammad Tuhin Tarafde, Surjeet Singh, Sahil
- All-rounder – Anwar Saheed Baba, Sourabh Tanaji Patil, Sagar B Krishna, Santhapanaselvam
- Raider – K Prapanjan, Manjeet, Athul MS, Bhavani Rajput
Telugu Titans vs Tamil Thalaivas LIVE streaming
The broadcasting rights for the Pro Kabaddi League season 8 is given to Star Sports Network. Kabaddi fans can live stream the event on Disney + Hotstar. The Telugu Titans vs Tamil Thalaivas clash will kick start at 8:30 PM IST on Wednesday, December 22.
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