Predicting the playing 7 for Tamil Thalaivas

Modified Oct 20, 2023 17:39 IST

Tamil Thalaivas retained Sagar Rathee and Narender Kandola (Image: Instagram) — Tamil Thalaivas have retained Sagar Rathee and Narender Kandola. (Image: Instagram)

Tamil Thalaivas have assembled a young squad for the Pro Kabaddi 2023 season. Last year, the Chennai-based franchise went all out for Pawan Sehrawat at the auction, but he got injured in the first match itself. The Thalaivas still managed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in the league's history.

This year, the Thalaivas let go of Pawan Sehrawat and decided to groom the youngsters in their squad. They retained the likes of Narender Kandola and Sagar Rathee, who played a big role in their success last season.

The Thalaivas also smartly made some value-for-money signings at the PKL 2023 Auction. Here's a look at their probable playing seven.

Center - Narender Kandola

Narender Kandola will be the lead raider of the Tamil Thalaivas in PKL 10. The youngster was in top form last season, where he earned 249 points in 23 matches. Kandola had a raid success rate of 60%, while his tackle strike rate was 38%.

With some valuable PKL experience under his belt now, Kandola can prove to be a bigger threat to the opposition defensive lineups. All eyes will be on him during the Tamil Thalaivas' PKL matches.

Left Cover - Mohit Jakhar

Mohit Jakhar has been with the Thalaivas for two seasons now. He made his PKL debut for the Chennai-based franchise in Season 8, where he earned 24 points in 20 matches. Last season, he improved his performance and ended with 34 points.

The team management will expect him to continue improving in the same way and earn more tackle points for the franchise in PKL 10.

Right Cover - M Abishek

M Abishek is another youngster groomed by the Thalaivas. He has been a part of this franchise for three seasons, showing improvement every year. The right cover defender earned 40 points in 23 matches last season.

The duo of M Abishek and Mohit Jakhar should start as the two cover defenders for the Thalaivas. If needed, the team has backups in the form of Ashish Malik and Ronak Kharb.

Left In - Ajinkya Pawar

After Pawan Sehrawat got injured last season, two raiders stepped up and delivered the goods for the Thalaivas. The first was Narender Kandola, while the other one was Ajinkya Pawar.

The Thalaivas have retained both the players for PKL 2023. Pawar earned 141 points last season. It will be interesting to see if he can touch the 150-point mark this season.

Right In - Selvamani K

The spot for the third raider will be a toss-up between Selvamani K, Himanshu Tushir and Himanshu Narwal. Considering that Selvamani has more experience than the other two raiders, he should feature in the starting seven.

Selvamani did not feature in the previous PKL season, but he is a veteran of this league, having scored 160 points in 58 matches.

Left Corner - Sahil Gulia

Sahil Gulia starred in the Tamil Thalaivas' defense last season, scoring 57 points in 23 matches. Gulia had a tackle success rate of 47%. His numbers improved a lot as compared to Season 8, where he earned 30 points and had a tackle strike rate of 38%.

The left corner defender will be keen to further improve his numbers in PKL 10. Expect him to be a game-changer for the Thalaivas.

Right Corner - Sagar Rathee

Sagar Rathee earned 53 points in 17 matches last season. The right corner defender could have scored more points if he remained injury-free throughout the tournament.

Rathee will aim to work on his fitness ahead of the PKL 10 season. He is likely to be named as the captain of the Tamil Thalaivas.