PKL Auctions | What clicked and what didn’t – Tamil Thalaivas

05/02/2019

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It has been two years in the Pro Kabaddi League for the Tamil Thalaivas and in both the seasons the team had finished at the bottom-most position on the Zone B points table. The Ajay Thakur-led team from the land from where the sport originated will come with fresh energy in season 7 this year.

Last season’s performance

After a disappointing show in their maiden season of the Pro Kabaddi League, everyone expected the E Baskaran-coached to come up with a better show in the sixth edition. Although the team made a great start to their campaign by winning the opening encounter against Patna Pirates, they lost the way completely after that. Tamil Thalaivas ended at the bottom-most position on the points table of Zone B with only 46 points and six wins in the season.

The team had some top names of the league like Ajay Thakur, Manjeet Chhillar and Jasvir Singh last year but the combination didn’t work out well for the side. Their defence was one of the poorest in the entire league and that cost them a lot in 2018. Thakur was the only raider in the team who managed to collect points while Jasvir was another negative factor in the raiding unit of the Chennai-based side. They had other raiders like Sukesh Hegde and Athul MS but both of them looked out of touch throughout the season making them one of the worst performers in a PKL season last year.

Positive takeaways from the auction

Before going into the player auctions for the 2019 season of the league, the Thalaivas went ahead to retain their last year’s skipper Thakur and all-rounder Manjeet along with foreign recruit Victor Onyango Obiero. This looks to be a safe decision to take considering Thakur’s one-man show previous year and the value that Manjeet brings on to the table with the vast experience that he has and the ability to fit in as a defender at both left cover and corner positions. As far as the Kenyan is concerned, he had taken everyone by surprise in his first appearance in PKL last year. After picking up six points from three games that he was a part of the Thalaivas, things look in his favour and he might just get a start this season at the centre of the mat.

The biggest accusation for the Thalaivas at the auction is bringing in Raid Machine Rahul Chaudhari. The raider, who played all his PKL matches for neighbouring Telugu Titans so far, might be the right partner for Thakur to make the Thalaivas’ raiding department the best in the league, provided that he gets back to form after a poor phase last year. Chaudhari was picked up for Rs 94 lakh at the auctions while by bringing in all-rounder Ran Singh for 55 lakh and right corner expert Mohit Chhillar for 45 lakh rupees, the franchise has ensured that the corner positions are well-guarded.

Threats for next season

Having too many players of captain material had a negative impact on the team in the sixth season and that we all saw. This might be the case this year as well. With Thakur, Chaudhari, Manjeet in the team along with Mohit and Ran, it is important to only listen to the skipper on the mat when the game is on. There are far too many senior members in the team and in due course of a three-month long season, it is important to maintain the fitness till the end of the tournament.

The team had a problem in the defence and this year that might be nullified considering the inclusion of big names like Ran and Mohit, however, the right cover position is still in some doubt and Ponparthivan Subramaniam, who played a few games previous year at that position, might have a bigger role to play in Season 6.

Another major concern for them is that although both Thakur and Chaudhari are top-class raiders, the team lacks a proper third raider, however, that might be a blessing in disguise for them if they can use Obiero has a surprise package. They would hope that the decision doesn’t backfire during the tournament.

Tamil Thalaivas squad

Ajay Thakur, Manjeet Chhillar, Victor Onyango Obiero, Himanshu, M. Abhishek, Rahul Chaudhari, Ran Singh, Mohit Chhillar, Ajeeth, Milad Sheibak, Shabeer Bapu, Yashwant Bishnoi, Vineet Sharma, Anand, Parthiban, V Ajit Kumar