PKL 2019 | Got relaxed towards end, thought we had game in bag, says Rohit Kumar

Bengaluru Bulls are currently fifth on the points table with a 50-50 record in the 10 matches that they have played so far. The Bulls started strong as 10 minutes into the game they were able to inflict an all-out. Pawan Sehrawat was in his rhythm as he scored nine points in the first half itself. The defence was also wary of Naveen Kumar and didn’t make any advanced tackle attempts. However, they did manage to keep the other raiders quiet and because of that Bengaluru Bulls ended the first half with a lead of eight points. 

“We got a bit relaxed towards the end and thought we had the game in the bag. We made uncharacteristic errors in defence. And that cost us the game,” skiper Rohit Kumar said in the post-match press conference.

In the second half, Pawan Sehrawat was tackled three times before he could reach the Super 10 milestone. After that Chandran Ranjit was substituted and Meraj Sheykh was brought in and he, in a series of raids, got five quick points. The Delhi defence became more fearless and Delhi was able to inflict an all-out with three minutes remaining in the game. Hence, they gained a lead of two points which they carried till the end. In the raiding department, Pawan Sehrawat was the highest scorer with 17 raid points but once again he failed to get any support from the rest of the raiders. 

“Pawan found his rhythm early. He was in his zone. Had I gone in and broken his raiding momentum, he would have taken some time to regain that. Therefore, it was necessary for him to raid as much as possible,” Rohit talked about not raiding more in the match.

“See, once we get that eight point lead, we started playing on the Do-or-die raid and force their hand. And Rohit was the one who was constantly taking the responsibility of going in during the must-score situations,” Pawan Sehrawat said while answering the same question.