Pro Kabaddi 2022: 3 players Telugu Titans may retain for PKL 9
Telugu Titans had a forgettable outing in Pro Kabaddi 2022 as they tied with Dabang Delhi KC for the least wins by a team in any PKL season. The Titans played 22 games in PKL 8, registering only one win. It came against the Jaipur Pink Panthers by a margin of one point.
Luck did not favor the Telugu Titans as their two star raiders Siddharth Desai and Rohit Kumar faced injury problems in Pro Kabaddi 2022. They missed most of the matches this season.
Since they were the two leaders of the team, their absence hurt the Titans a lot. They also lost quite a few matches by a margin of 1-2 points.
The Telugu Titans may make a call on the retention of Rohit and Siddharth depending on their fitness and availability. Apart from the star duo, the Titans may also consider retaining the following three names for PKL 9.
#1 Adarsh T
All-rounder Adarsh T proved himself to be a specialist raider in super tackle situations. He scored points for the Telugu Titans when the opposition team had three or fewer defenders on the mat. Overall, Adarsh scored 86 points in 21 matches at a decent strike rate of 52%.
The Titans may retain him because he is young and can play for the team in multiple seasons. Also, if groomed well, Adarsh could probably lead the raid attack one day.
The youngster also contributed 10 tackle points and pulled off a super tackle this season, showing that he can be a valuable all-rounder for the Telugu Titans team.
#2 Ankit Beniwal - Highest-scorer for Telugu Titans in Pro Kabaddi 2022
Ankit Beniwal was the most successful raider from the Telugu Titans team in Pro Kabaddi 2022. The youngster, who had scored only 13 points in his PKL career before this season, ended with 126 points in 21 games in PKL 8.
Beniwal scored 111 raid points and 15 tackle points, registering four Super 10s and executing three super raids. Given that the Titans have kept him in their squad since 2018, the team management should retain him for the coming years as well. He has proven himself as a consistent performer in Pro Kabaddi 2022.
#3 Rajnish Dalal
Rajnish played only 13 matches in Pro Kabaddi 2022 but scored 122 points for the team. He scored six Super 10s in the season and had a fantastic average of 8.15 raid points per match.
Like Ankit Beniwal, Rajnish grabbed the opportunity to play regularly with both hands and almost guaranteed himself a retention in the Telugu Titans squad for next season.
Rajnish, Ankit and Adarsh T were the biggest positives for the Telugu Titans in PKL 2022. The defense had some big names like Sandeep Kandola, Surinder Singh and C Arun, who did well in some matches, but could not play well as a unit consistently. It will be interesting to see if the Titans retain them.