PKL 2019 | We gave away too many easy bonus points, says Edacherry Bhaskaran

Tamil Thalaivas lost the match to Jaipur Pink Panthers by 2 points in last night’s encounter. They started the match with an aggressive approach and got the initial lead as well but their weakness in Super Tackle situations came back to haunt them again. They were Super Tackled thrice before they were able to inflict an all-out on their opponents which helped the Panthers take the lead despite having fewer players on the court.

“We gave away too many easy bonus points for my liking. Had we been able to control that, we would have forced multiple Do-or-die situations and the pressure would have been on them,” Tamil Thalaivas coach Edacherry Bhaskaran said in the post-match press conference.

This was a tense game where both teams were under pressure. One of the masterstrokes by Jaipur Pink Panthers’ coach was to go for the bonuses rather than touch points and this worked well as Thalaivas were missing their experienced defender Manjeet Chillar in the corner position which put them on the backfoot. In the raiding department, both Ajay Thakur and Rahul Chaudhari score 6 points each but it was the defence that lacked finesse.

“A very spirited effort from the boys. I'm satisfied with the performance. The energy was high right from the start and we were in the game right untill the end,” coach E.Bhaskaran said.

The highest and the only scorers in defence were Mohit Chillar and Vineet Sharma with three points each. Skipper Ajay Thakur was given a green card in the second half where he questioned the umpire's decision after Panthers took a review due to which they missed a crucial point. Even Rahul Chaudhari took to Instagram to share his opinion on that decision supported by the video.

“He played like the veteran leader we all know he is. He was vocal on the mat, he was raiding well. He was brilliant,” coach E. Bhaskaran commented on Ajay Thakur’s performance.