Pro Kabaddi League 2018, Season 6 Match 6: Tamil Thalaivas v Telugu Titans, Player Ratings
The Telugu Titans got their season six campaign off to the perfect start with a commanding 33-28 win over hosts Tamil Thalaivas, who have now lost two matches on the trot at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai.
In a game that was dominated by the Titans, the Thalaivas only had their moments in the first ten minutes of the game, when Athul MS's successful raid was met by Manjeet Chhillar's double thigh hold to bring down star raider Rahul Chaudhari.
The 2-0 lead was levelled in the 4th minute before both teams dealt blow for blow whilst opting for a cautious approach until the Titans' top player of the day Mohsen Maghsoudlou went on a riot, claiming two points in a row as the Thalaivas fell to an all-out in the dying moments of the opening half.
At the break, the Titans enjoyed a comfortable 17-11 lead from where they never looked back as the Thalaivas never seemed to claw their way back as the Titans romped home to victory in their opening encounter.
Rahul Chaudhari topped the charts for the Titans while Mohsen Maghsoudlou's terrific show raised the bar for the Thalaivas, who were also dented by the efficiency of the Titans defence.
Here are the player ratings for the match between the Thalaivas and Titans.
Tamil Thalaivas
Ajay Thakur - 8/10
The Thalaivas skipper was the one player who continually picked points but in the dying stages of the game, Thakur seemed to lose out on confidence as he was pinned down quite often by the likes of Vishal Bharadwaj and Anil Kumar.
Manjeet Chhillar - 7/10
A top defender, Manjeet Chhillar started on the left corner again and was a prime contender for a tough fight against Rahul Chaudhari. Although Manjeet started off with a successful tackle against Rahul, he slowly faded away as the Titans raider emerged as the better of the two on the day.
Amit Hooda - 7/10
Generally, an aggressive defender stationed at the right corner, Hooda seemed to have no answer to the might of the Titans raiders in the first half but soon came into his element in the second half as he picked 6 tackle points including an effort to bring down Rahul Chaudhari in a super tackle.
Athul MS - 6/10
The youngster was promoted from playing as a substitute to finding a place in the starting seven and he kicked off the proceedings for the Thalaivas, only to slowly lose his way in the middle. From 10 raids, Athul picked just 5 points and was involved in a set of poor tackles.
Darshan J - 3/10
The young defender showed a lot of promise against the Pirates but against the Titans, seemed a little too rushed in his tackles, often coming up with solo tackles that were warded off with ease by the Titans defenders.
Jasvir Singh - 2/10
For a man of experience such as Jasvir Singh, the veteran had absolutely nothing to show against the Titans, highlighted by just two successful raids from 14 raids. It was only in the 36th minute that Jasvir picked his first point as he just could not find his feet.
C Arun - 1/10
The local lad went out of favour early in the match, substituted by Sunil Kumar owing to the former's lack of efficiency on the day.
SUBSTITUTES
Sunil Kumar - 4/10
Sunil entered into the competition as a substitute and did not fare too badly but at the same time, did not contribute by a huge margin. A dash from the corner to get rid of Nilesh Salunke was his only highlight.
Vimal Raj V - NA
Vimal featured in just the one raid right throughout the game, a DO OR DIE raid in which he was literally thrown to the wolves.