PKL 2019 | We are still not able to finish off close matches, admits Edacherry Bhaskaran

Tamil Thalaivas ended their home leg winless which resulted in them slipping on the points table to the eight position with 5 losses in 10 games. They were outplayed by U Mumba and lost the match by a 5 point margin. They started strong by getting points on both sides of the mat but could not inflict an all-out. In the raiding department Rahul Chaudhari was the highest scorer with 6 points while getting out 5 times, one of which was a Super Tackle. The other two raiders skipper Ajay Thakur (3) and Ajith Kumar (5) were also not able to make a major impact either.

“To be honest, our boys played well in every match. It wasn’t that we were unprepared or anything. We tried very hard too. But some ups and downs at crucial times always let us down. But we have some momentum, and we have a chance to do well going forward. That’s what we want to focus on. We are still not able to finish off close matches in our favour. But we aren’t trailing by much in the standings. We have more matches in hand. We don’t want to focus too far into the future from now. We want to improve on all our mistakes and ensure we win in the coming match itself,” coach Edacherry Bhaskaran said in the post-match press conference.

The defensive unit missed the experience of Manjeet Chillar as they were only able to score 6 points in the whole match. Mohit Chillar scored half of those points with Ran Singh and other defenders not contributing much at all. Their defence gave away points in do-or-die raids and were even caught sleeping in raid by Sandeep Narwal where he scored an extra point by catching the defence unaware. In the last few minutes Rahul Chaudhari went in for raids, but failed as he had been in the previous matches as well.

“Ajay Thakur is the captain and he has an idea who is ideal for scoring at a certain point. He himself is also of an excellent calibre. But sometimes you have to take tough decisions for the team. Ajay knows that Rahul Chaudhari has the ability to take points at important junctures. So these are decisions taken on the mat. They are based on the situation and not on the quality of player alone,” coach Edacherry Bhaskaran signed off.