PKL 2019 | Defence was continuously unsuccessful for us, says Deepak Niwas Hooda
Jaipur skipper Deepak Niwas Hooda has stated that their defenders failed to put in a good effort and that added to the pressure on the raiders. Jaipur coach Srinivas Reddy has mentioned that his team will try to better and get their winning momentum back in the upcoming matches of the season.
Jaipur Pink Panthers were completely outplayed by U Mumba in today’s game on the first day in Bengaluru. None of their players could do well and their raiders and defenders failed terribly against a strong U Mumba unit which registered a huge 47-21 win today. Skipper Deepak Niwas Hooda blamed the defenders’ continuous failure for the defeat and also hailed the U Mumba defence especially young cover Harendra.
“Our defence was continuously unsuccessful because of which their raiders kept scoring so that is why the pressure was on raiders to score points and obviously our focus was on Fazel but Harender came in and tackled us,” Deepak said while addressing the reporters.
“I am the main raider and skipper of the team so my performance matters a lot. Nevertheless, I will agree on that on raiders behalf. If I perform, the confidence level of everybody goes up so we will focus on the next match and give our 100%.”
Speaking on the defeat, the Jaipur coach Srinivas Reddy explained, “Some teams didn’t start well but are gaining momentum. Now for us, the last three matches were not good so it’s a phase and this happens in a game. We will definitely try to do better and get our winning momentum back as there are still 10 matches left so we are not willing to give up. We have to play the necessary 22 games and till final, 25 games and so we will not give up. It’s okay if we lost today as in the next match we will come with a fresh mindset.”
The inaugural champions got all-out as many as four times in the game which shows the way the team from Mumbai dominated proceedings on Saturday. The coach, however, said that the team didn’t give up after the first two all-outs and kept on trying hard till the last minute of the game.
“I can’t tell the team after two all-outs that you have already lost so play peacefully. One has to try till the 40th minute, no matter if you have endured 1 or 10 all-outs. I can’t tell the raider to relax just because of an all-out, it doesn’t work that way. For example, Dabang Delhi had about 20-21 point lead but Patna didn’t give up, they fought and came back so even 20-25 points can be recovered in this game, it's very possible and that is what we kept in mind,” Reddy stated.