PKL 12: All-rounder Bharat Hooda desperate for title triumph with Telugu Titans
Bharat Hooda is one of the top names donning the Telugu Titans jersey as the outfit hunts for its maiden title in the twelfth season of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL 12). It shelled out Rs. 81 lakh in the auction to bring him over from UP Yoddhas, making him the third-most expensive all-rounder in the competition, and the side’s most expensive player to boot. Together with captain Vijay Malik, Hooda has been tasked with spearheading the team’s raiding unit.
It’s an assignment the towering player has enjoyed so far.
“The team is really good. I joined the camp a little late, only for one month, because I had some matches for Services, but the environment and the practice I saw was really good,” he told reporters in the middle of the Jaipur leg of the league.
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“There is a fantastic brotherhood between seniors and juniors, and the relationship between the coach and management has been really good.”
However, Telugu Titans has experienced fluctuating fortunes early on, with the margins too close for comfort between victory and defeat for the outfit.
Two matches stand out in particular, its season-opener against Tamil Thalaivas, and clash against his former side Bengaluru Bulls. Titans let a seven-point lead slip against Thalaivas, before conceding a Super Raid to Ganesh Hanamantagol as it lost against the Bulls despite leading with ten seconds remaining.
These close results mean that it has won four and lost five of its first nine matches, sitting in fourth position in the table.
“After losing in such a way, the team environment is never great, but we sit together with the coach, we talk and prepare for the match, and try to forget those things,” Hooda reflected on the state of the camp after these defeats.
For Hooda, putting defeat out of his mind is the name of the game now.
“It feels worse when you lose matches that were in your hand,” he said. “In those situations, I talk to my family, to my parents. I also do a little bit of meditation, and I prepare for the next match, because ultimately you can’t change what has already happened.”
While the season may have been a mixed bag for the team so far, it undoubtedly represents a positive turn in form for Hooda. He managed 116 and 109 raid points in the last two seasons for UP Yoddhas and Bengaluru Bulls respectively, but has already racked up 83 points in nine matches so far this season.
Hooda, however, is ever the team man, saying, “My points come in use when the team wins, otherwise if you play an individual game, then you can win as many points as you want, but it doesn’t make a difference.”
Hooda has also been able to experience the feeling of playing in front of home fans this season. The Titans played five matches in front of a partisan Visakhapatnam crowd, and were able to delight them with three wins. “It was fantastic, they supported us so well. On the days of our matches, the stadiums were completely full with our supporters, and we were able to do well in a few of those matches as well,” Hooda recalled.
Those fans that turned up to support in such large numbers will hope this is the year Telugu Titans breaks its duck and wins its maiden Pro Kabaddi League title. Hooda, however, does not want to get ahead of himself.
“It’s best to go step-by-step. You can think that you need to do well and deliver the trophy, but you have to go step-by-step. First win each match, then reach the playoffs, then semifinals, that’s better,” he said.
The competitive athlete in him, though, couldn’t stay down for too long as he added, “But we want it, it’s been so many years. Trophy tho chahiye yaar.”
Published on Sep 26, 2025