Telugu Titans begin their home leg in Hyderabad announcing Meraj Sheykh as captain

As Hyderabad, the medieval city known for the ‘Charminar’, gets ready to host the second half of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League tomorrow, the Telugu Titans, who are lying in the second spot in the points table, have the best chance to clinch a semi-final berth.  Anouncing Meraj Shaykh, their iranian recruit as Captain for the second half of the season, the Telugu Titans play four matches with the opening one against Jaipur Pink Panthers. Their other opponents are Bengal Warriors, Patna Pirates and Puneri Paltan on the following days. U Mumba, Jaipur Pink Panthers and Bengal Warriors are the two teams scheduled to play two matches each while the rest of them play one match each.

For Telugu Titans who are on 26 points, they need to make a good start. They have convincingly beaten the Panthers in the first leg and shouldn’t find the going tough against them. The hosts are well equipped despite their star raider Rahul Chaudhari’s lack of form. They have been well-served in the raiding department by new-find Prashant Kumar Rai and   Sukesh Hegde has performed consistently in attack to keep their winning streak going save for that loss to Bengaluru Bulls in Patna.

Announcing their Iranian recruit as captain, Srinivas Sreeramaneni, owner of the Telugu Titans said "Meraj is unarguably one of the most experienced players of the team. With the virtue of his skill and seniority, he will be able to utilize all the the youngsters in the team to their maximum potential.Telugu Titans are not about their individual stars but are about a team coming together to give each game their best shot."

Their defence, which was their biggest headache during the last year has looked steady and stable. The advent of Sandeep in the left corner and Rajaguru Subramanian being in good nick has bolstered that department. D Gopu and Deepak Nivas Hudda too have made their presence felt. Deepak a reliable raider also contributing substantially in defence is a bonus for the Titans.

If the Titans are able to pull off at least three wins they will be able to consolidate their claims for a play-off berth they narrowly missed after losing to the bulls last year.

Similarly U Mumba will be trying to maintain their winning run. They will play the Delhi Dabangs on the opening day and play their second match against the Panthers on the concluding day of this phase. Two wins here should pave the way for their way to the semis. A win against the Dabangs whom they have beaten after coming from behind in Patna will ensure that they go in a better frame of mind to face the Panthers. The latter will be upbeat in case they can pull it off against theTitans.

The Panthers will again rely on the smiling assassin Jasvir and Rajesh Narwal in attack and the duo of Ran Singh, Rohit Rana and young Kuldeep in defence. The ‘X’ factor for them should be the tall Sonu Narwal. This raider was in his elements against the Puneri Paltan on the last day in Patna and that has been an encouraging sign for the men from the desert state. Currently Jaipur are sixth and a couple of wins are extremely necessary for them to stay in the race although the task seems difficult.

The team from the East, the Warriors have their work cut out. They face the Titans and Bulls and that is an uphill task for them. The crowd will be favouring their opponents for sure and Dinesh will have to pull out his best and inspire his boys or else they have to bid good bye to their chances. With a tally of just 11 points the Warriors in a tight situation.

The rest, Puneri Paltan, The Bulls and the Pirates have just one outing and they can hope to improve their tally marginally. For the Bulls and Pirates that will bring them a step closer to qualification. Puneri Paltan with 10 points have to work miracles to keep their hopes alive.

Star Sports Pro Kabaddi – Points Table after Matches 27 and 28 as of 2^nd August