The second of the matches to be played today is the South Indian derby between the home side, Tamil Thalaivas, and Telugu Titans.
While the Thalaivas would like to leave last evening's defeat to the U.P.Yoddha behind, they must take pride in the way they fought back to come from 7-27 to finish the match at 32-37. The gap could have been lesser if not for the impulsive raid by Jasvir Singh (who incidentally also got a Green card earlier in the match for a separate violation) which cost the Thalaivas a technical point.
The Telugu Titans will be playing their first match of this Season and would look to start out with a win to give confidence and momentum to their campaign.
Titan's prolific raider and their captain last season, Rahul Chaudhari has stepped down from his captaincy, and the reigns have been handed over to the young all-rounder Vishal Bharadwaj.
While the Titans have managed to retain or buy back at the auction, their leading raiders - Rahul Chaudhari, Nilesh Salunkhe and Mohsen Maghsoudlou, they have bolstered their defense with the buy of last season's top foreign defender, the Iranian Abozar Mighani for a price of 76 lacs.
Probable playing 7:
Tamil Thalaivas: There's a need to replace Jasvir Singh with Athul MS (7 points) who impressed with his raids in the match against the U.P.Yoddhas, after coming off the substitution bench.
Ajay Thakur (c), Surjeet Singh, Athul MS, Manjeet Chhillar, Amit Hooda, Darshan J., and C.Arun
Telugu Titans: Vishal Bhardwaj (c), Rahul Chaudhari, Nilesh Salunkhe, Mohsen Maghsoudlou, Farhad Rahimi, Anil Kumar, and Abozar Mighani
When and where to watch: 21:00 IST on the Star Sports network and on the digital streaming platform, Hotstar