PKL 2019 | Defence had a poor second half, admits Jagdish Kumble

Telugu Titans lost against Gujarat despite having an eight-point lead by the end of the first half. Both their departments were playing well and were in sync with each other until the first half ended. However, they lost their concentration in the second half and were all out thrice which gave Gujarat a hefty lead. Giving multipoint raids and even a four-point super raid at regular intervals didn’t help their case as it helped strengthen the opposition's lead.

“It was a repeat of what has been the case with us for the entire season. We couldn’t maintain our lead. The defence, especially, wasn’t up to the mark today. The raiders were scoring consistently and with relative ease, but the defence had a poor second half,” coach Jagdish Kumble said in the post-match press conference.

Even Telugu’s most successful defender, Akash Choudhary, had five unsuccessful tackle attempts with only three points contribution. Vishal Bhardwaj, who was at one point of time, the top defender in the league effected as many as six unsuccessful tackles while only scoring one tackle point.

In the raiding department Siddharth Desai maintained his recent form and finished the match with a score of 13 points in 17 raids. Though the problem came when he is ousted and the team was unable to revive him.The difference between the two teams came majorly from all-out points.

“Not many, I believe. But Siddharth (Desai) was a silver lining. He got going in the second half of the season and we are happy we have him on our roster. The new boys that we played in the past two matches were decent. But the senior players, like Vishal (Bhardwaj) today, haven’t been playing well,” Kumble said while talking about the positives Telugu is going to take from this season.