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Telugu Titans entered the sixth day of the tournament desperate for a win after having suffered a nightmarish beginning to their fifth season. Up against them was Patna Pirates, a team that had defeated them earlier in the season.
It was expected that the will to avenge that defeat would add to Titans' desperation and help them eke out a win to put their campaign back on track in Season 5. But things did not pan out quite that way as Telugu Titans struggled to stay afloat, especially when Rahul Chaudhari was on the bench.
Patna outplayed the home team in all the departments to secure a well-deserved victory. Here are 5 talking points from the match.
#1 Super Mane's super tackle brings Rahul Chaudhari down
Rahul Chaudhari is the key to Telugu Titans' fortunes. What has become more evident this season is that when he is taken out of the equation, Titans are half the team that they are with him on the mat. That has now given the impetus to the opposition defenders to get more aggressive when Chaudhari comes on to raid.
In the 8th minute, Chaudhari was lurking on the Pirates side with a Super Tackle opportunity on and Vishal Mane, bringing all his experience into the game, made sure that the opportunity wasn’t squandered.
The Super Tackle allowed the Patna raiders to raid against a Titans unit sans Chaudhari, and as everyone expected, they made good use of that window of opportunity to add more points to the team's kitty.
#2 Narwal flexes his muscles
Vishal Bhardwaj has emerged as one of the finds of Season 5, despite his team’s dismal performances. Bhardwaj has impressed with his quick thinking and sharpness on the mat but doesn’t possess an intimidating frame like a Fazel Atrachali or Surjeet Singh.
On Thursday night, he was reminded of that when Pardeep Narwal threw him off the court to complete a successful raid.
In the 14th minute, Narwal went to raid and got a touch on Rakesh Kumar in the left corner when he started running back to safety. At that point, Bhardwaj from right cover lunged at him in a desperate final attempt but was mercilessly muscled off the court by a powerful Narwal.
Known for his dubkis, Narwal showed that he has enough muscle power and should never be underestimated.
#3 Monu Goyat silently makes an impact
It is difficult to overshadow Pardeep Narwal when he is on song. But the best thing about the Monu Goyat-Pardeep Narwal partnership is that Goyat is happy to play second fiddle to the mercurial raider from Haryana. And what a job he is doing!
Cool as a cucumber, Goyat’s raids were not the most eye catching but his free scoring allowed Narwal to be even more dominating against a team he has traditionally prospered.
Goyat, meanwhile, ended up with 10 points, clearly underlining the reason why the Titans were bulldozed into submission by Patna Pirates.
#4 Telugu Titans defence disappoints again
While the lack of penetration from the Titans raiding department has got tongues wagging, the lack of strength in the team's defence has hurt them even more.
More is expected of a team that has players of the calibre of Rohit Rana and Rakesh Kumar manning their defence. In the last four games, the team conceded 30 or more points and it went from bad to worse on Thursday when they faced their old nemesis Pardeep Narwal.
The school-boy errors flowed in the face of awful coordination and courageous raiding by Narwal and his partner Goyat. The inability of the defenders to plug the leak has put a lot of pressure on Chaudhari and Salunke who always seem to have too much to take care of when they come on to raid.
The Titans need to regroup fast and tighten their defence, lest they become the whipping boys of the tournament.
#5 The Narwal juggernaut rolls on
Pardeep Narwal makes the game look ridiculously easy while the 13 others fight tooth and nail for their moments of glory on the mat. It wasn't too different on Thursday night when he was up against his favourite opposition, Telugu Titans.
He took the game away from Telugu just as they had started to get close to the Pirates score in the first half. The manner in which he got those raid points were demoralising for a defence that was already under the kosh. And from there on, in the absence of Rahul Chaudhari to even give him a hint of competition, he pillaged his way to 12 points and a comfortable Patna Pirates victory.
