PKL5 Match 54 preview: Telugu Titans v Tamil Thalaivas

Date: 31st August
Time: 8PM IST (3:30PM BST)
Venue: Dome@NSCI SVP Stadium, Mumbai
Zone: B

Form

The first game of the night is a zone B match which sees Telugu Titans take on Tamil Thalaivas. The first time these teams met Tamil lost heavily but they’ve improved a lot since, both teams are struggling in the league and they have a chance to push on.

Telugu Titans: LWLLD
Tamil Thalaivas: LDLDW
(last 5 games most recent first, W = won, D = draw, L = lost)

Match Prediction

Telugu Titans have improved a lot especially in defence with Rohit Rana, Vishal Bhardwaj and Farhad Milaghardan the settled 3 with the corner position usually handed to Sombir. On the raid however only Rahul Chaudhari has done well with Nilesh Salunke and Vikas not performing consistently. They can win this game easily but the Tamil Thalaivas have a strong defence and if Nilesh or Vikas are not doing well they might lose. Mohsen Maghsodlou is an option as a raider and has performed well but has yet to gain a starting place.

Tamil Thalaivas have improved a lot and this comes with both Amit Hooda and Ajay Thakur hitting their form at a crucial period of the league. The youngsters are performing really well in defence they are just lacking on the raid, with K. Prapanjan struggling to find his early form and the third raider not yet solidified.

The game probably hinges on the performance of the second and third raider and if the raiding department can pick up points that will ease pressure on the defence and that team should win. I’m going for Telugu Titans but only just.

Prediction: Telugu Titans 32-30 Tamil Thalaivas

Players To Watch

• For Telugu Titans raider Rahul Chaudhari is excellent to watch, he’s fast and escapes tackles with ease, no wonder he has 83 raid points in 11 matches.
• In defence Vishal Bhardwaj is great to watch, he can pull off the dash, block and the diving ankle hold, yielding him 29 tackle points in 11 matches this season.
• For Tamil Thalaivas Ajay Thakur is their best raider scoring points with ease at the moment having scored 46 raid points in 7 matches.
• In defence Amit Hooda has been immense scoring all kinda of tackle points which has him scoring 27 tackle points in just 7 matches.

Team News and Predicted Line-ups

Telugu Titans have been without Rakesh Kumar for a while now and no official statement has been released about his absence. Apart from this Telugu Titans are at full strength. I expect either Vikas or Mohsen to come in for Vinoth Kumar but other than this I don’t expect any changes.

Tamil Thalaivas have a settled lineup but I would like to see Dong Geon Lee from Korea used more as I think he has a lot to offer this side, but they will probably remain unchanged.

Telugu Titans: Vishal Bhardwaj, Rahul Chaudhari (C), Vikas, Nilesh Salunke, Rohit Rana, Sombir, Farhad Milaghardan (✈️).

Tamil Thalaivas: Amit Hooda, Ajay Thakur (C), K Prapanjan, C Arun, Vineet Kumar, Darshan J., D. Pradap.