PKL 2019 | Satisfied with team's performance, insists Anup Kumar
After losing a close match, Puneri Paltan Coach Anup Kumar has said that he is satisfied with his team’s performance as they put in all their efforts. However, Anup did point out the areas in defence on which Puneri Paltan need to work on as they lost to Dabang Delhi by only two points last night.
Puneri Paltan has worked hard after they lost their first three games and there are major improvements in the side. In last night’s match, even though Pune fought hard, they were unable to win the game. The match went till the last raid where Pune was only a point behind and Manjeet went in for the raid. His foot went into the lobby without any touch hence the raider as declared self out. Nevertheless, Pune’s raiding seems to be getting back in form and that’s the positive they will take from this match.
“Our raiders were excellent. Our defence could have played a bit quicker. The match was incredible. I'm satisfied with the team's performance. Nitin (Tomar)'s return is a huge boost for the side. If he plays as well as he did today, we'll do well in the upcoming games. We'll work on our defence and ensure we don’t repeat the mistakes that we made today,” Puneri Paltan coach Anup Kumar said in the post-match press conference.
Puneri Paltan raiding unit outdid the Delhi raiders as Pune scored 22 raid points collectively as compared to Delhi’s 19. Pune lagged behind in the defence where apart from Girish Ernak’s four tackle points no other defender was able to leave a significant impact. The boost in raiding unit’s performance was brought by Nitin Tomar who played his first match of the season after coming back from an injury. Tomar scored eight points from 13 raids and even though the opponents plan against him worked and he was out of the court of almost 19 minutes.
“Nitin is a star player. He made his return today and we all saw what he can bring to this side. The team needs him and his comeback is extremely important to us,” the Pune coach signed off.