#4 Puneri Paltan
Defending Options: Girish Maruti Ernak, PO Surjeet Singh, Hadi Tajik, Satpal, Deepak Yadav, Jadhav Balasaheb Shahaji, Shubham Shinde, Sagar B. Krishna, Amit Kumar
Puneri Paltan have assembled a good defense for this season. They re-signed defensive talisman Girish Ernak before launching a huge bid for PO Surjeet Singh, probably the best cover defender in the league.
Their defense is expected to revolve around these 2 men and players like Shubham Shinde, Sagar B Krishna and Hadi Tajik will be the utility defenders in the side.
They, however lack strong options for both corner positions if Girish Ernak will play in the left cover position. Pune are a balanced side both in their raiding and defensive units and if both of them fire, they can have a good season.
#5 Tamil Thalaivas
Defending Options: Mohit Chhillar, Ran Singh, Manjeet Chhillar, Ajeet, Himanshu ,M. Abishek, Milad Sheibak, Ponparthiban Subramanian, Victor Onyango Obiero, Hemant Chauhan
The Tamil Thalaivas have built a really strong team for this team and though their raiding unit is much stronger, their defense is pretty good. They signed defending all-rounder Ran Singh who is a rock at the left corner while Mohit Chillar, another signing is one of the best right corners in the league. Manjeet Chillar too can play in either of the cover positions and the only problem they have is in finding the right player for the other cover position.
Though their main defenders are great players, they are ageing players and though they have experience, their form isn't what it used to be. They have decent backups in players like Ponparthiban and Hemant Chahuhan while all-rounders like Victor Onyango can chip in.
The Thalaivas have a good and experienced defense but it seems to be on the slightly older side.