PKL 2019 | Defence worked extremely well, asserts Ram Mehar Singh
Patna Pirates coach Ram Mehar Singh has said that he is extremely pleased with the defence's performance after their win against Puneri Paltan. Patna Pirates beat hosts Puneri Paltan by a convincing score of 55-33 to leapfrog Gujarat into the 8th position on the 2019 PKL points table.
Patna Pirates dominated the home team in both the departments despite having a shaky start. After Pankaj Mohite executed a Super Raid to hand Pune a four point lead in the third minute, Patna grabbed momentum back thanks to a Super Tackle by Neeraj Kumar. Pardeep and Neeraj worked in coordination with each other after that and successfully inflicted the all-out 5 minutes after the Super Raid. Neeraj Kumar played a crucial role throughout the match as he equalled the record (11) of most tackle points in a match in PKL history.
“In the opening five-six games, we lost some of those matches at the last moment. And the last four-five matches we have lost, the biggest thing was that Jang Kun Lee was missing. The team needs the support of a second raider. But Pardeep Narwal managed to do his job nevertheless. But we got to see his actual game in the last three matches. And today I am happy to say that my defence worked extremely well. Neeraj set a record, that's a proud moment for me. Neeraj has been a plus point, he supported both Pardeep and Lee. He didn’t give any bonus points away. And the second raider supported Pardeep, and if they all play like that then we can get to the playoffs,” coach Ram Mehar Singh said in the post-match press conference.Â
After suffering through a six match losing streak, Patna Pirates have now won three matches consecutively and one of the biggest reasons for that is the support which Pardeep has received from the returning Jang Kun Lee. The South Korean has been able to revive Pardeep regularly once the raider has been sent to the bench. Also, their defence is also coming back in form as yesterday they scored 18 points collectively as opposed to opponent’s 8.Â
“Any team which has repeatedly created history, been a three-time champion, sit at the bottom of the standings - whether it’s in kabaddi, cricket, football or any other sport - then the coach, management and players will be disappointed. Who would want to see a team that has been a triple champion languish at the bottom of the standings? And then we didn't have Lee as well, that had impacted us. But now the defence has also been doing extremely well. Lee is back and has supported Pardeep well in the last two matches,” Singh said when asked the reason for three consecutive wins.
Even though Patna are currently in 8th position on the points table, they have played more matches than the teams above them so if those teams win their matches their chances of getting into the playoffs is going to be slim.Â
“That depends on the other teams... how many matches they win. If they win all their matches, then we would need to win all our remaining matches as well,” Singh said when asked to rate their chances of getting into the playoffs.