Pro Kabaddi 2023: 3 reasons why Telugu Titans didn’t qualify for PKL Playoffs
The Telugu Titans once again failed to qualify for the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 2023 playoffs. They finished at the bottom of the table, managing to gather just 21 points throughout the season.
The Titans won just two out of their 22 matches and lost 19. They finished the tournament without a win in their last five matches, losing four of them.
Their last Pro Kabaddi 2023 league-stage contest ended in a draw against U Mumba with a scoreline of 45-45. The Telugu Titans last qualified for the playoffs during the fourth season back in 2016, where they finished second after the league stage. Ever since, the Titans have failed to make it to the knockout stages of the tournament.
Looking back at their disastrous campaign this season, here are the three reasons why they failed to qualify for playoffs.
#3 Poor start and inconsistent performance in Pro Kabaddi 2023
The Telugu Titans did not start their campaign as they would have liked to. They lost their first five games and failed to build any sort of momentum. The Titans finally managed to grab their first win in their sixth game against the Haryana Steelers.
However, they could manage only one more victory in the entire season, which came against the UP Yoddhas. The Titans therefore could not put up a consistent performance and remained at the bottom of the table throughout, becoming the first team to be eliminated as well.
#2 Inconsistent performance from the defense
The Telugu Titans' defenders failed to step up and perform collectively this season, which was a major factor as to why they failed to win matches. Experienced names in the defense such as Sandeep Dhull and Parvesh Bhainswal failed to create impact.
Sandeep picked up just 37 tackle points from 16 matches while left cover Parvesh was thoroughly disappointing, bagging just eight tackle points. Their main defenders' failure impacted the entire defense.
#1 Dependence on Pawan Sehrawat
Pawan Sehrawat was the only consistent performer from the Telugu Titans in Pro Kabaddi 2023. The 'Hi-Flyer' led the team single-handedly, scoring 202 raid points from 21 matches, and is third in the list of most raid points as well.
Pawan put in 395 raids this season, which shows the team's dependence on him coming to the raiding department. The pressure showed on the skipper as he could maintain a successful raid percentage of just 39.