PKL 2019 | Jaipur Pink Panthers had chance to watch us play, says Fazel Atrachali
After their defeat against Jaipur Pink Panthers, U Mumba skipper Fazel Atrachali has mentioned that the Pink Panthers had a chance to watch Mumba play which Atrachali and co. did not have. U Mumba, after beating Telugu Titans in their first game of the tournament, lost 23-42 to Jaipur.
In a rematch of the first-ever PKL final, U Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers played their hearts out but unfortunately, for Mumba the match ended with similar results. Mumba was outplayed by a very well-coordinated Panthers, their defence was the key for them as they started aggressively which in turn made Mumba's raiders go on the backfoot.Â
“We were poor in the initial stages and that’s the reason (for the loss). It was the first match for Jaipur Pink Panthers, but the second match for us. They had the chance to watch us play but we didn’t get a chance to watch them before today,” Fazel Atrachali said in the post-match press conference.
The Panthers inflicted three all-outs because of which it got hard for Mumba to make a comeback. The Panthers skipper Deepak Niwas Hooda led from the front as he scored 11 raid points in 15 raids in their opening encounter in the seventh edition.
U Mumba’s defence scored a total of five points as compared to Panthers' 11, their defence was out of sync and seemed restless during the game. Their raiding department was a bit better with Abhishek Singh and Dong Geon Lee scoring seven and six points respectively but it still wasn’t enough as they fell behind Panthers at the beginning of the game.
“This is not the first time our team is playing such a tournament. We know that all teams will lose sometimes. It’s ok, it’s a good experience for us. We must identify our mistakes before the next match and try not to repeat them,” Atrachali concluded.