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Telugu Titans have been hailed as the underachievers of the Pro Kabaddi League because they have always failed to deliver the goods despite having a star-studded line-up every year. They had the biggest star of the league, Rahul Chaudhari in their side for six long seasons. However, the team is yet to taste title glory.
Titans decided to end their association with Rahul this year as the star raider moved to the Tamil Thalaivas in this year's auction.
Also Read - PKL 2019: Predicting Tamil Thalaivas' starting seven for the initial matches
The Hyderabad franchise picked up U Mumba's Siddharth Desai in the player auction to make up for Chaudhari's loss. Desai will be the team's cornerstone and the hopes of the entire Telugu Titans fan army will rely on his shoulders.
Telugu Titans made some interesting purchases in the 2019 auction and here's how their starting seven could be for the initial matches.
Right corner - Abozar Mohajermighani
Iranian defender, Abozar Mighani started off his PKL career as a part of the Gujarat Fortune Giants in season 5. But, he soon switched to the Telugu Titans and became an integral part of their defense.
In the 45 matches he has played in the league, Abozar has picked up 121 tackle points at an average of 2.46 points per match. He has executed 10 super tackles in his career, of which 8 came when he was donning the Telugu Titans jersey. Being the team's key defender, he was able to have a not out percentage of 100 in season 6.
The team would expect the back hold specialist to perform better this season as he is one of the most experienced players of the team. The powerhouse will handle the team's right corner position.
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Right In - Rajnish
The only weak point in this Telugu Titans squad is the team's secondary and tertiary raider. Siddharth Desai will be the team's lead raider but he will not get the proper support from his fellow raiders as almost all of them are very inexperienced. Though none of the young players can be written off, the Titans will always have to take extra care of Desai's fitness.
There is nobody in the squad who can take Siddharth Desai's position. Coming back to the support raiders, Titans may go with Rajnish as their second raider.
Also Read - Pro Kabaddi Season 7: Team analysis of Telugu Titans
Rajnish had made his PKL debut in season six where he played 4 matches for the Titans. Though his performance was not impressive, the Titans decided to retain him for this season. This shows that the Titans have faith in his abilities and thus, they will try to give him as much exposure as possible in the initial games.
Right Cover - Akash Choudhary
Along with Manish, Telugu Titans signed up young Akash Choudhary in the auction to fill in the cover positions of the defense. Manish will handle the left cover while Akash Choudhary will play at the right cover position. Both the young cover defenders have got a golden chance to prove themselves.
If this young duo scores a fair number of tackle points, then they could well become a marvellous cover duo of the PKL just like Parvesh Bhainswal and Sunil Kumar of Gujarat Fortune Giants.
Also Read - Pro Kabaddi League 2019 : Predicted Starting Seven of Gujarat Fortune Giants
Along with the secondary raiders, another area of concern for the Telugu Titans will be the cover defenders. Their probable first choice covers have never played a PKL match in their career. However, they have Iranian all-rounder Farhad and former Tamil Thalaivas player C. Arun in their squad to fill in the positions if needed.
Center - Siddharth Desai
Telugu Titans bought Siddharth Desai for a humongous price of ₹1.45 crores in the auction. This bid made Desai the costliest player of the entire auction. Though this price can be considered as a life-time achievement for Siddharth but now he will have to shoulder the entire raiding department of the Titans.
He will have to fill in the big shoes of Rahul Chaudhari but the way in which Desai performed last year, expect him to shine for the Titans this season.
Also Read - Pro Kabaddi 2019: Siddharth Desai - Get to know the PKL 2019 auction's costliest player
The running hand touch specialist had earned 221 points in his debut season last year, with the element of experience also on his side now, the former U Mumba star will make sure that his former franchise regrets a lot over their decision of releasing him.
Left Cover - Manish
Manish was amongst the new young players that the Telugu Titans signed in the auction. We have seen how the unknown commodities perform well in the league - thus, Manish can be the next emerging star if he shines for the Titans.
Manish primarily plays as a left cover, hence the Telugu franchise should give him a place at his favourite position. Also, given the fact that the Titans do not have any experienced options for the left cover position, they should hand Manish an opportunity at least in the initial games.
Also Read - Pro Kabaddi 2019 Auction: Full list of players bought by Telugu Titans
Telugu Titans have unearthed the talents of Rahul Chaudhari and Vishal Bhardwaj among a host of players in their Pro Kabaddi League history and thus, Manish can be the next young lad to achieve name and fame by donning the yellow and black jersey.
Left In - Suraj Desai
Suraj Desai, the brother of Siddharth Desai was bought by Telugu Titans for a price of mere ₹10 lakhs in the auction. Given how Siddharth performed in the previous season, one can back his brother, Suraj to light up the season for Telugu Titans this year.
As mentioned ahead, the Titans do not have any reliable raiders except Siddharth and thus, they will have to place the inexperienced raiders in the playing seven. Apart from Suraj Desai, Titans had bought new young players, Rakesh Gowda, Amit Kumar and Mula Siva Ganesh Reddy in the auction.
Also Read - Pro Kabaddi League 2019: Ranking the raiders of the 12 teams
They even have an American player in their squad named Duet Jennings but it is unlikely that we will see him play in the initial matches. Siddharth and Suraj Desai's performances will have a huge impact on the team's fate in season seven.
Left Corner - Vishal Bhardwaj
The captain of Telugu Titans, Vishal Bhardwaj, will play at the left corner position of the starting seven as always. The all-rounder started off his PKL journey as a part of the Telugu Titans in season 4 but it was in season 5 where Vishal stole the spotlight with an impressive tally of 71 tackle points.
The ankle hold specialist has played 41 matches in his PKL career thus far and has 138 points to his name. With 10 high 5s and 12 super tackles, Vishal is easily the best defender in the Telugu Titans squad.
Also Read - Pro Kabaddi League 2019: Ranking the defenders of the 12 teams
Vishal Bhardwaj, Siddharth Desai and Abozar Mighani will be the three key players for Telugu Titans in season seven and it will be the performance of this trio which will determine the position which the Titans occupy this year.
How far do you think will the Telugu Titans reach in the seventh edition of the Pro Kabaddi League? Let us know in the comments box below.
