HYDERABAD: The combination of Indian skipper
Ajay Thakur
and ‘Raid Machine’ Rahul Chaudhari proved too good as Tamil Thalaivas handed hosts Telugu Titans their second consecutive 39-26 defeat while last year’s runners-up
Gujarat Fortunegiants exacted sweet revenge as they trounced champions
Bengaluru Bulls 42-24 in the first league match on the second day of the VIVO
Pro Kabaddi League Season 7 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, on Sunday.
Rahul Chaudhari, who parted ways with the Titans for the first time after representing the team for six consecutive seasons, made an impressive debut for Thalaivas as he top scored with 12 points. With skipper Ajay (4 points) and experienced defence Manjeet Chillar (6 tackle points) lending him admirable support, Thalaivas dominated the match from the start.
For Titans, only Siddharth Desai, the most expensive player of the season, shone in patches as he scored six points.
Earlier, champions Benguluru, who were playing for the second consecutive day, looked off colour from the beginning. The champions, who pulled off a brilliant fight back win against threetimes former champions Patna Pirates on the opening day, were found wanting in all departments of the game. The duo of skipper Rohit Kumar and Pawan Kumar Sherawat, who together scored 433 points last season, were neutralised by the Gujarat defenders, led by brothers skipper Sunil Kumar and Sumit.
Benguluru initially equalised the scores at 4-4 after Gujarat took an early lead. However, Gujarat took control of the proceedings soon afterwards and imposed an all out early to gain a 11-6 lead. With Pawan and Rohit failing to fire, the runners-up looked comfortably placed at 21-10 after forcing another all out just before the stroke of the breather.
The second half looked no different as Gujarat maintained their tight control of the game with Sonu scoring a super raid to give them a 26-18 lead. Skipper Sunil Kumar reached his 250 tackle points milestone in the
PKL in the process. Only consolation for champions Benguluru in the match was their top raider Pawan Kumar Sehrawat, who scored just eight points today, reaching the 350 points milestone in the PKL.
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