PKL 2019 | We allowed U Mumba chance to comeback into game, says Rakesh Kumar
Haryana Steelers coach Rakesh Kumar said that he is upset with his team as they allowed the opposition a chance to make a comeback to a point where they almost lost the match. He also appreciated Chand Singh’s contribution in defence and how he helped Haryana in avoiding an early all-out.
Haryana Steelers are currently at the fifth spot on the points table with five wins in nine matches after their 30-27 win against U Mumba on Monday. Even though U Mumba got the first points, Haryana Steelers were not far behind as Vikas Kandola’s Super Raid 6 minutes into the game helped them inflict an easy all-out. The Steelers went on to build on that lead and ended the first half leading by 6 points. However, in the second half, U Mumba made a comeback courtesy of three super tackles which helped them inflict an all-out onto the Steelers.
“Look we’re definitely happy because we won the game, but I’m a bit upset as well. We had such a big lead, but we allowed the opposition a chance to make a comeback to the point that we were almost on the verge of losing the game. Even after taking a big lead, we committed some mistakes in the second half. So, I’m happy with the win but not pleased at the manner of it considering the lead that we had,” Haryana Steelers coach Rakesh Kumar said in the post-match press conference.
In the raiding department, Vikas Kandola finished the match with nine raid points and only three unsuccessful raids but apart from him, no one was able to justify their position as a raider as the combined score for the rest was only five points.
“It all depends on the situation. We started the match with Prashanth Kumar Rai raiding because I told him that against six or seven defenders, he must try to score points. He’s a very good raider who has just returned from injury. Even though he’s not back to his best yet, he’ll slowly but surely improve with practice. My instructions to him were not to go too deep and just try for the bonus, which he did. But he’s not fit to play a full game, which is why I play him for about 10-15 minutes and then change according to the plan. Vinay and Naveen are also good raiders who know how to get bonus points,” coach Rakesh said on flexibility of the raiders.
The defence of the team saw multiple strong individual performances as Ravi, Sunil and substitute Chand Singh scored three points each. They were able to delay the All-out situation which made it harder for the opponents to gain an edge against them. Also, they were able to hold their nerves better in the dying minutes of the match and helped the team emerge victorious.
“I had introduced Chand Singh from the bench to avoid the All-Out. He’s very good at the ankle hold and opposition raiders aren’t aware of that. So, I had full faith in him and told him at the start of the match that when I put you in to play, you have to grab hold of the raider’s ankle. So, a lot of the credit for today’s win goes to Chand Singh because without him, we would have succumbed to an All-Out much earlier and U Mumba would have more time on the clock to comeback,” coach Rakesh concluded.
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