PKL 2019 | Despite Sunil’s good performance, defence didn’t deliver as unit, explains Rakesh Kumar

Sunil was included in the Haryana defence for the first time against Jaipur Pink Panthers yesterday and he delivered for the team as well by collecting six points from nine tackle attempts. He also came as good support for others during the game by playing at the right corner. Haryana made a tactical change by putting him at the left and skipper Dharmaraj Cheralathan at the right for the game. However, the ploy only worked for Sunil but not for the entire defence as they failed to perform as a unit, as per coach Rakesh Kumar.

“We gave Sunil a chance in this match and he played really well. The plan we had made of playing Sunil in the Right Corner and captain (Dharmaraj Cheralathan) in the Left Corner worked to a large extent. However, though Sunil played well, the entire defence as a unit was not able to deliver. We had to pay for the mistakes we made at crucial junctures. Otherwise, if we would have played more patiently, then we could have brought the match down to the wire. But one learns from their mistakes in the sport of kabaddi and now we will analyse where we went wrong,” Rakesh told reporters after the game.

Rakesh said that the advance tackle attempts at the beginning of the match and raiders getting tackled even when there was no Do or die situation as the two major reasons for the loss against the Pink Panthers last evening.

“We tried a few advanced tackles at the start which affected our momentum. We weren’t able to capitalise on the defence of five. The All-Out added more pressure on the team. If we could have avoided the All-Out we might have come out ahead.  Our raiders got tackled even when they weren’t in Do-or-Die situations, which is another reason we lost,” the coach explained.

After having two very good games to start the tournament, Naveen failed terribly against Jaipur yesterday. He managed to collect only three points in the match and was tackled on seven occasions. Rakesh, however, has mentioned that Naveen was not under any additional responsibility in the game. In the absence of Vikash Kandola and Prashanth Kumar Rai, Naveen is playing as Haryana’s lead raider.

“It’s not like he (Naveen) had any additional pressure or responsibility because he played well in the previous two matches. It happens at times that a raider is not able to deliver. Of course, we do look to him to perform and hopefully he will get back to form in the coming match,” the Haryana coach concluded.