Pro Kabaddi | Patna Pirates coach confident of team's raiding abilities sans Pardeep Narwal too

"I came on board with the Patna Pirates in the second season as a mentor. We reached the semifinal then before winning the title thrice in a row. A lot of people say I have a near-perfect record in the PKL, but it is not just me. A lot of it boils down to the trust the management has in your abilities as a coach," Singh said. 

He substantiated his point further by citing the example of how the defence forces work, where he served as well. "It is much like how defence forces work. If you are heading a mission, you need a certain amount of freedom to take your own decisions and that freedom can only emerge from trust. This freedom to make my own decisions is what makes me successful at the Patna Pirates," he said.

He has time and again received offers from different teams, but has decided to stay away. "One of the first things they teach you in defence is loyalty. I have received three or four offers from rival teams, but the loyalty I have towards Patna holds me back from accepting any of those. The second thing is, I doubt whether I would get the freedom to run the team in a way I want to if I join any other franchise," he added.

In the seasons where Patna did well, Pardeep Narwal was one name, who almost single-handedly took them to the titles. But this time around he will be with UP Yoddha. To this, the coach said, "It was a tough decision to let Pardeep go. He wanted to be a part of the auction. He is a good kid, very confident, always obedient and so we granted him his wish. The ultimate plan was to buy him back using the Final Bid Match (FBM) card in the auction, but unfortunately, the Yoddha's predicted exactly what we thought of and increased their bid," he said.

"I believe we have got a fantastic raiding unit even without Pardeep. Everyone knows what Sachin Tanwar is capable of. We have the experience of Monu Goyat and Prashanth Kumar Rai. Guman Singh is itching for his opportunity in the starting seven. I do not see any reason why we would let go of that approach."