PKL 2019 | Game could have been easier if we had prevented super tackles, says Anup Kumar
PKL
Puneri Paltan coach Anup Kumar said that their match against Telugu Titans could have been easier if the team could have prevented the super tackles. Puneri Paltan, with this win, are currently 10th on the points table with four wins in 11 matches in the seventh edition of the league.
Puneri Paltan was the better playing team of the two and the result certified that as they won 34-27 against Telugu Titans in a close encounter last night. Puneri Paltan started strong as Nitin Tomar got the initial points for them in his first raid. Though they could have done better if they were able to inflict an all-out earlier. In the process of inflicting the all-out Pune’s raider got super-tackled five times in the first half itself.Â
“It always goes well if you’ve won the game (laughs). The five Super Tackles that they executed were mistakes on our part. If we had prevented that from happening at the start, the game could have been easier for us,” Puneri Paltan coach said in the post-match press conference.
Tomar, along with Manjeet, was doing well in raiding and their combination worked well for the team. The raiding department scored a total of 15 points courtesy of Manjeet and Tomar’s eight and seven points respectively. Despite the tense situation they faced in the first half they came back in the second and took their team to victory.
“Firstly, Nitin and Manjeet performing for the team like they did today is very important. They’ll have to continue playing in the same manner in the remaining matches. Secondly, we’re not in a very good or bad situation now. We played well in our last game as well and lost because of some tough luck. So, our strategy for the second half of the league will be to continue playing in the manner that we have been and hopefully qualify for the playoffs,” coach Anup said on the raiding unit and future plans.
In defense, Amit Kumar and Sagar Krishna made their presence felt as they scored four points each. Their biggest challenge was to contain Siddharth Desai which they did quite well in the first half. Even though some of the defence faltered against him in the second half, it wasn’t very harmful for the team.
“Stopping Siddharth is obviously very crucial, he is kabaddi’s Baahubali after all and stopping him is very beneficial for the team. Look at how well he performed in the second half and how quickly he scored. At that point, it was very important for us to tackle him. We managed to do that a and grew in confidence. The entire team played well today. The corners played very well and had good balance,” Anup signed off.
