PKL 2019 | I feel lucky to be the captain of U Mumba, says Fazel Atrachali

Fazel Atrachali has been the skipper of the U Mumba team from the sixth season of the league and like the last edition, this time too, they have made it to the playoffs. The Iranian was one of the stars for last evening as they defeated Patna Pirates 30-26. After the game, Atrachali heaped praise on his players for their performance in the league.

“I have always tried to give my best and I also expect the best from my teammates. And they haven't disappointed. I feel lucky to be the captain of U Mumba. We assembled a very good team and they have shown that on the mat as well,” Atrachali told reporters.

U Mumba managed to keep Patna captain Pardeep Narwal silent in the game and he managed to score only eight raid points last evening. Atrachali was the best defender of the match with four tackle points to his name while Abhishek Singh was the best raider as he collected seven points last evening. Their coach Sanjeev Kumar Baliyan explained the strategy behind strengthening the defence for the last evening’s game. 

“We knew we had to contain Pardeep Narwal. The key to beating Patna Pirates is keeping Pardeep on the bench and hence, we focused on our defence more for this match. And they obviously executed the gameplan to perfection,” Sanjeev mentioned.

When Sandeep Narwal was asked about the aggressive intent of the defenders against Pardeep, he replied, “Yes, that is exactly what the coach wanted us to do. He also has a certain personnel against a particular raider. Today he opted to play Young Chang Ko because he knew that he would be more effective in our gameplan for today.”