Telugu Titans raider Siddhar Desai admitted that his weight impacted his raiding in the team’s opening match against Bengaluru Bulls. The Titans suffered a 34-29 loss against the home team at the Shree Kanteerava Stadium on Friday.

There were huge expectations from Desai but he was able to muster only four points. The 30-year-old admitted it is difficult for him to weigh below 85 kg as he is almost 6 feet tall. As per the PKL rules, all players taking part in the tournament should weigh less than 85 kgs.

The raider had impressed with his play in the initial seasons of PKL and he will look to replicate the same in the ongoing season for Telugu Titans. Desai is making a comeback after injury and he feels it will take him some to hit the ground running.

Siddharth said while talking to Sportskeeda, “Making a comeback after an injury is tough, I am confident that if given time I can do very well for the team. But I mainly want to thank the Telugu Titans for giving me another opportunity. I picked up an injury last season but they have trusted me again. I have worked hard on my fitness and in training, you will see it on the mat soon.”

“I personally feel for my height it is tough to weigh below 85kg and that impacted my raiding. I have no fat in my body, I have to fully keep an eye on how much water I drink and what I eat. Our first match was immediately the next day after the weigh-in, so I had no time to recover.”

Desai is hopeful of recovering and coming up with better performances in the next matches for Telugu Titans.

“Hopefully in the coming days I will have more time to recover, and that will help me a lot in doing well on the mat. Also, because this is the 4th season I am playing, people know my main skills so I am working on getting better.”