PKL 2019 | Our raiders played well today, says Manpreet Singh
While talking about his team ending their six match losing streak, Gujarat Fortunegiants coach Manpreet Singh has said that their raiders played well as compared to how they performed in their home leg. He also talked about young raider Sonu and what can be expected of him in the upcoming games.
Gujarat Fortunegiants won against Patna Pirates 29-26 in a close encounter last evening as the team performed well in all aspects of the game despite having a shaky start. Pardeep Narwal managed to oust three players in a super raid three minutes into the game and by the end of the half the Patna captain had seven points to his name. After inflicting the all out, Gujarat did incredibly well to recover and ended the first-half just two points behind.
In the raiding department, their top performer Rohit Gulia scored a Super Ten and he was well supported by all-rounder GB More who scored five raid points.
“Our raiders played well today. They didn’t manage to perform that well during our home leg. We had a few days’ break after our home leg, which we used to work hard and sweat it out on the mat. We tried to rectify a few of the errors our raiders were making during this period and as a result, they picked up good bonuses and touch points against a defence of six and seven today. Whenever someone put in a good advance tackle, they executed swift escapes as well,” coach Manpreet Singh said in the post-match press conference.
In defence, it was a combined show where skipper Sunil Kumar led from the front and scored three tackle points. Pankaj(3), Pravesh Bhainswal(2), and Rituraj Koravi(2) collectively scored seven points and ensured Pardeep was unable to convert his great start into a Super 10.
“In the last few games we weren’t at our best in defence, but today we were told to just tackle the raiders whenever we felt we had a chance and we followed that formula and found success,” skipper Sunil Kumar said on defence performance today.
Coach Manpreet Singh sounded relieved while talking about his thought process saying, “I was happy with the previous games where we lost too because we didn’t play badly in those games despite the results. We went close and lost them by one or two points. But it feels good to win after six matches. We almost had to wait for (what feels like) a month for this win, so it feels good.”
“Sonu’s hasn’t managed to play according to his potential so far. He’s a very good raider. He’s got great skill and a good height. He’s capable of scoring a bonus, using the Kick or Touch, and has everything you want a raider to have. It’s taking him a bit of time to find form but the day he does come into his own, Gujarat Fortunegiants will be unstoppable,” coach Manpreet said while talking about young raider Sonu who only scored a single point in this match.