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Pro Kabaddi League 2018 action continued on in the Chennai Leg as the Tamil Thalaivas took on fellow South India franchise, Telugu Titans at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
The Tamil Thalaivas came into the match with a mixed bag of results - one win and a draw. They had started with a bang on the inaugural day as they beat the defending champions Patna Pirates with a convincing performance overall. In their second match, they lost out against the UP Yoddha after a dismal first half showing. However, the side led by Indian skipper Ajay Thakur was on song in the second half as they closed down the gap and almost made a superb comeback and definitely had the Yoddhas sweating on the mat. Manjeet Chillar and Ajay Thakur look good in combination and the duo will hope to lead the side well against the Telugu Titans.
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Telugu Titans come into the upcoming season after retaining most of their core players from last season and were led by the young defender Vishal Bhardwaj, who mans the left corner for the Titans. He had the famed Iranian defender Abozar Mohajermighani at his aid to pose a challenge for the Thalaivas. The poster boy of Indian Kabaddi, Rahul Chaudhari was the main raider for the Titans after signing in the auction at 1.29 Crores, the second highest for a player in the 2018 auction.
Telugu Titans beat the Tamil Thalaivas with a 33-28 score as they put in a good team effort as the Thalaivas fell to their second defeat in a row. The Thalaivas will take on Bengaluru Bulls tomorrow and the Titans will face UP Yoddha next in Sonepat later.
Tamil Thalaivas
Ajay Thakur (8/10) - The skipper of the Thalaivas had a good outing on the mat as he finished the first half of the match with four raid points and kept the scoreboard ticking for the home side scoring 9 points in the match.
Jasvir Singh (4/10) - The veteran Jasvir Singh seemed wasteful with his raids in the first half as he put in five empty raids and got caught by the Titans' defenders during one raid. He scored a
Athul MS (6/10) - The young raider, who had impressed in the match against the UP Yoddha did decently tonight with his raiding. However, he found it tough to deal with the Telugu Titans defenders and scored raid points in the match.
Manjeet Chillar (5/10) - The experienced all-rounder looked a tad hasty in his defence today and although he scored tackle points, he did not appear his best self on the mat.
Amit Hooda (7/10) - Amit Hooda took time to get in his normal free tackling self, but once he got into the flow, he was deadly with the corner ankle holds. He scored five tackle points in the match and got his High 5 in the final stretch of the match.
Darshan J (3/10) - The Thalaivas man had a poor outing tonight in terms of statistics but did well with his assists for the tackles inflicted by the team.
C. Arun (2/10) - Arun was ineffective in the Tamil Thalaivas' defence and was substituted as Sunil came on to replace him on the mat.
Substitutes:
Sunil (4/10) - The cover defender came on as a substitute in the match and did well with his dashes and assists for the Thalaivas.
Telugu Titans
Rahul Chaudhari (8.5/10) - The lead raider for the Titans did the bulk of raiding for the team and kept the Tamil Thalaivas defenders on their toes with his sublime movement on the mat. He put in a lot of raids in the match but only managed 9 points as he was kept out of the action for a long period of time, still ending up as the joint top scorer in the match.
Nilesh Salunke (7/10) - The man who was retained by the Telugu Titans ahead of the auction did well along with Rahul Chaudhari in the raiding unit. The man from Maharashtra did well to take the raiding responsibility as Rahul missed out on large chunks of the match due to being tackled a lot of times by the Thalaivas defence.
Farhad Milaghardan (4/10) - The Iranian all-rounder had an off-day from his usual standards as he was ineffective in scoring points for the Titans. He had a more defensive role today as Mohsen played the third raider for the team.
Anil Kumar (6/10) - The cover defender did fairly well in the Titans' defence with his assists for the tackle points. He scored a superb ankle hold in the second half on Jasvir Singh and added another thigh hold at a crucial time on Ajay Thakur.
Mohsen Maghsoudlou (9/10) - The Iranian all-rounder was great on both fronts for the Telugu Titans as he contributed well on the mat. He was confident with his raiding skills playing good support to Rahul Chaudhari and Nilesh Salunke and helped with crucial points. On the defensive front, he was handy with his ankle holds.
Vishal Bhardwaj (6.5/10) - The young Telugu Titans' captain had a tough time to get going in the match but led the team on the mat. He scored a few tackle points in the second half of the match with a well-timed ankle hold.
Abozar Mohajermighani (2/10) - The most underwhelming performer on the mat for the Telugu Titans, Abozar fell short of the expectations from him as he looked a shadow of his last season. He found it tough to score tackles against Ajay Thakur and scored just two tackle points.
