PKL 2019 | Telugu Titans can take lessons from this game, says Gholamreza Mazandarani
PKL
After the Hyderabad-based franchise Telugu Titans lost their first home game, coach Gholamreza Mazandarani has said that there are some positives that they will take from this match. The Titans coach also said that the team can't just want Siddharth Desai to take them to victory in every game.
Telugu Titans failed to change their luck from last season as they lost to the better-performing side U Mumba in their opening game of the season on Saturday. Led by Abozar Mighani, the Titans failed to impress in both defence as well as raiding. Their corners managed to score only four points collectively. Titans never managed to take the lead in the match, they failed to stop Abhishek Singh from sneaking points as well and were outsmarted by U Mumba at all fronts.
“We played well towards the end. Obviously, this is a good learning experience for us. The season is long, and no team goes unbeaten. So, we can take some lessons from this game and work on improving in areas that we didn’t excel in,” Telugu Titans coach Gholamreza Mazandarani said in the post-match press conference.
Titans' support raider Rajnish scored eight points and was the leading point scorer for the home side. Contrary to him, their main raider Siddharth Desai managed to score only five points in 14 raids, he had six unsuccessful raids against his name as well.
“He’s just one player. We cannot expect him to propel us to victory in every game. U Mumba’s defensive unit played with him last season and that worked to their advantage. Also, he’s still adjusting to the change. We’ll have a chat and I’m sure he’ll be back to his best,” the Titan’s coach said talking about Desai.
The team at first glance does seem defence-heavy but there are not enough viable raiding options which will be able to give them results.
“We have a lot of young raiders that we will try out over the course of the season. Today we played 19-year-old Rakesh Gowda and it was his debut and I think he played quite well. We will try out the others as well and then decide whom to play,” Mazandarani signed off.
