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Telugu Titans vs Tamil Thalaivas Preview
The first match of the fifth season of the Pro Kabaddi League will be a Southern derby between the Telugu Titans who will take the battle across to new entrants Tamil Thalaivas.
The match will take place at the Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad wherein the Titans will bank on homes support to notch up the first win of the new season. Captained by the poster boy of Indian kabaddi, Rahul Chaudhari, the Titans have a revamped squad for the new edition and will largely look to benefit from the experience of all-rounder Rakesh Kumar who will guide the young guns on the mat. In the attack, Rahul will combine with Nilesh Salunkhe to keep the scoreboard ticking while the defence will be manned by Rohit Rana and Amit Chhillar amongst other.
On the other hand, the Tamil Thalaivas will be captained by World Cup star Ajay Thakur who will look to carry his forth his stellar form into the new season. The attack will largely feature him alongside youngsters like K Prapanjan. In the defence, Amit Hooda will look to effectively combine with C. Arun to stop Rahul and Nilesh in their tracks. The Tamil squad features a lot of young and inexperienced players and for them, it will be a real test of their talent on the mat.
Telugu Titans vs Tamil Thalaivas Prediction
The match will essentially see the best of raiders lock horns, for both the skippers, Rahul Chaudhari (with over 500 points) and Ajay Thakur (Best Raider from the World Cup) will look to lead their side by example.
In those terms then, it will be the side with the better defence, one that is able to keep these rampant raiders at bay.
It is tough to call a winner for the first match of the tournament, but the Titans definitely have an upper hand with more experienced players in their ranks as compared to the Thalaivas who are largely banking on their new talent to fire.
Also read: Pro Kabaddi 2017, season 5: List of all the team owners
Telugu Titans vs Tamil Thalaivas Playing Squads
Telugu Titans:
Defenders: Amit Singh Chhillar, Farhad Milghardhan, Rohit Rana, Sombir, Vinod Kumar
All-rounders: Elangeshwaran R, Rakesh Kumar, Vishal Bhardwaj
Raider: Rahul Chaudhari, Mohsen Maghsoudlou, Nilesh Salunkhe, Munish, Ankit Malik, Athul MS, Vikas
Tamil Thalaivas:
Defenders: Amit Hooda, Anil Kumar, Anil Kumar, C Arun, Darshan J, Mugilan, Muruthu M, Rajesh Manokaran, Sanket Chavan, T Prabhakaran, Vijay Kumar, Vijin Thangadurai
All-rounders: Ananth Kumar, Chan Sik Park, D Pradap, Sujit Maharana,
Raiders: Ajay Thakur, Bhavani Rajput, Dong Geon Lee, K Prapanjan, M Thivakaran, Sarang Arun Deshmukh, Sombir, Vineet Kumar, Waleed Al Hasani
Telugu Titans vs Tamil Thalaivas Live Match Information
Date: 28/07/2017
Time: 20:00 IST
Venue: Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad
TV Channel: Star Sports 2 (English), Star Sports 1 (Hindi), Star Sports 1 (Tamil), Star Sports 2 HD, Star Sports Hindi 1 HD, Star Sports First
Live Stream: Hotstar
Also read: Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Where are India's World Cup winning stars now?
