Telugu Titans didn't inform me before releasing me: PKL star Rahul Chaudhari
Indian kabaddi team star raider Rahul Chaudhari on Thursday revealed his displeasure on being released by the Telugu Titans ahead of the Pro Kabaddi League 7 (PKL 7) player auctions.
In an exclusive chat with Afreen Khan on Sportskeeda's official Instagram handle, Rahul Chaudhari spoke about his disappointment on being let go by the Titans ahead of PKL 7.
"Since the start of PKL, I was playing with the Titans and I didn't think that they would release me. It was very weird, it didn't feel good to play for any other team. I always thought that I would play for the Telugu Titans throughout the PKL. They didn't tell me before releasing me from the team," Rahul Chaudhari said.
One of the most consistent raiders in the tournament, Rahul Chaudhari was a fan favourite right from the inaugural PKL season and grabbed a lot of eyeballs with his fast movements on the mat.
The first player to breach the 500-point landmark in Pro Kabaddi history, Rahul Chaudhari was at his best in PKL season 4, when he scored 150 points from 16 matches during that season.
However, despite being labeled as the 'Poster Boy' of Indian kabaddi, Rahul Chaudhari's form dwindled over the next two seasons and put up a below par show in PKL 6, a season in which he picked up just 166 points from 21 matches.
Tamil Thalaivas' combination didn't work in PKL 7
And, despite the seasoned raider's massive status with the Telugu Titans and the franchise's fans, he was released into the auction pool ahead of PKL 7. The ace raider was signed by the Ajay Thakur-led Tamil Thalaivas for PKL 7, but the team failed to make any sort of an impact despite boasting of big names such as Thakur, Chaudhari, Manjeet Chhillar among others.
Rahul Chaudhari spoke about what he felt went wrong with the Thalaivas and shed light on a few issues that plagued the team throughout PKL 7.
"There were so many big names but probably the combination went wrong, in crunch situations the combination wasn't working. At different situations, either the raiding wasn't working or defensive unit wasn't working," said Rahul Chaudhari.