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Former Pro Kabaddi League champion Rishank Devadiga shared his thoughts on the Telugu Titans squad for PKL season 11. In Devadiga's view, the team will likely be dependent on Pawan Sehrawat once again.
The Titans used the FBM card and re-signed Sehrawat for a whopping ₹1.725 crore at the Pro Kabaddi 2024 Auction. They also splurged ₹70 lakh to acquire right corner Krishan Dhull and then roped in experienced all-rounder Vijay Malik for ₹20 lakh.
In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, Rishank Devadiga opined that the Telugu Titans will be over-reliant on Pawan Sehrawat once again, and if the other players do not step up, the Titans may struggle in PKL 11.
"Talking about Telugu Titans, I think just like the last season, where the team was fully dependent on Pawan Sehrawat and the rest of the squad was inexperienced. That team did not settle and struggled for the whole season. Even this season, they may struggle," Rishank said.
"They have signed a few NYPs. So if they perform well, the team could do better. Pawan Sehrawat is such a player, who needs the support of other players. When other players support him, he performs brilliantly. So if that happens, we will see a more consistent Pawan this season. Otherwise, there will be enormous pressure and responsibility on Pawan, which may impact his form negatively," he added.
Telugu Titans changed their head coach before the Pro Kabaddi 2024 Auction. They roped in Krishan Kumar Hooda, who guided Dabang Delhi KC to the championship in season eight. Rishank Devadiga hoped that the new coach would inflict new energy into the squad and bring the best out of the players.
"A new coach has joined the Titans this season. I hope there are some changes, and the team is looking a little different as well. They have three senior players in Pawan Sehrawat, Krishan Dhull and Vijay Malik. So, if other new players support Pawan, the team should perform well," Devadiga said.
"Tamil Thalaivas needed a raider who could score points in any situation" - Rishank Devadiga comments on Sachin Tanwar's ₹2.15 crore deal
Next, Rishank Devadiga was asked to pick the team that performed the best at the Pro Kabaddi 2024 Auction. The former U Mumba raider opined that all teams executed their plans well, but Bengaluru Bulls, Bengal Warriors, and Tamil Thalaivas impressed him the most.
"All teams have done a great job at the auction. Bengaluru Bulls have signed two top-class raiders in Pardeep Narwal and Ajinkya Pawar. Bengal Warriors also pulled off a great move by using FBM for Maninder Singh and roping in Fazel Atrachali," Rishank Devadiga replied.
He further shed light on Tamil Thalaivas' decision to spend ₹2.15 crore for Sachin Tanwar's services and concluded by saying:
"Tamil Thalaivas needed a raider who could score points in any situation. Sachin is a raider, who can score points consistently right from the first raid. He can do well for the team. Narender and Sachin's combination will be deadly for the team."
Sachin was the most expensive player in this year's PKL Auction. It will be interesting to see if the raider can justify his enormous price tag.
