PKL 2019 | Our focus is on being the best team, says Gholamreza Mazandarani

Telugu Titans won big last night as their star raider Siddharth Desai showed signs of getting back into form. They won by an 11 point margin against Haryana Steelers. They started the game with an aggressive approach and Siddharth and Suraj Desai started getting points with ease. After the initial lead, Telugu Titans’ players seemed more confident and played with intent. So, the first half ended with a score 21-13 with Telugu in the lead. 

“Having more than just one leader on the mat is not a problem. Sometimes there maybe language issues and other things but we must not focus on best player, captain or leader. We must focus on being the best team because it’s a team game. When the team plays well, everyone is happy but when the team doesn’t play well, not even the best player (on the day) is happy and is instead sad,”Telugu Titans coach Gholamreza Mazandarani said in the post-match press conference.

In the raiding department Siddharth led from the front as he scored 18 raid points with a 100% strike rate and Steleers' defenders were able to catch him only once and that too on his last raid. His scored helped in eliminating pressure from the rest of the team. The defence scored 10 points collectively, the highest was by skipper Abozhar Mighani (3) and Vishal Bhardawaj (3) but they made 7 unsuccessful tackle attempts as well which could have cost the team. They were well supported by Farhad and C. Arun who scored two points each.

“Our defence performed very well today. We hardly gave Haryana Steelers any points while they were attacking, so I think our defence played a huge role in the win,” Siddharth Desai said.

“We had a plan to contain their raiders and we played according to that plan. Siddharth and Suraj Desai also raided well, so that’s why we got the win today,” Vishal Bhardawaj commented.

Today’s match was Telugu’s best because they played like a unit and each and every member of their team contributed to the win. From this win, they could get the momentum and they have hope to capitalize on it.

“No, I don’t believe we’ve started forging a comeback in the league yet. To say that we at least need to win five matches and not just one or two. After five wins we can say, ‘ok we’re starting to make a comeback’. But with just two wins, it doesn’t change anything. I think we need to continue to win to make a comeback,” coach Gholamreza concluded.