PKL 2019 | Gujarat will not only qualify for playoffs but also play the final, believes Manpreet Singh

09/02/2019

Gujarat Fortunegiants’ coach Manpreet Singh is of the belief that his team will not only make it to the playoffs of the ongoing PKL but also get an entry into the final. The runners-up team from the last year are currently placed at the eighth position on the points table with 34 points.

Manpreet Singh has a long-term relationship with Gujarat Fortunegiants and it is his third season with the team and he is there from the fifth season in which the Ahmedabad-based team made their debut in the PKL. After some dominating performance in their first two seasons, the Fortunegiants haven’t been that impressive this year. Gujarat lost all their games at home and are currently at the eighth place with 34 points from 12 games.

However, with six teams to qualify for the playoffs according to the new format of the league, Manpreet is hopeful that his team will make it to the top six and will also play the final in the third consecutive tournament this time.

“I have been with the team in the past two seasons as well. So I have a great bonding with the team and they have performed really well. The team will definitely come back and will play the semi-finals as well because we have worked hard till now and that is never wasted. Though it will take them a match or two to return but winning and losing is part of the game. Apart from that, every player is fit and they have been practising well and also working a lot on the mistakes that they have made. So, we are hoping that the team will make a comeback and we will try to win every match of the league from now on,” Manpreet told SportsCafe during an exclusive interaction.

“The plan right now is to win all the matches we have and with big leads as well. Firstly, the plan is to qualify as half the league is over so we have 13 matches and how to go about all of them. Right now, our focus is going to be on the teams whom we can win against and secondly we don’t have to repeat the mistakes that we have already done. What my experience of Kabaddi tells me is that not only we will qualify but play the semi-finals and finals as well. As I see the strength of my team and the hard work we have been putting in the past three-four months that makes me believe that we can win.”

The top players in the Gujarat side – Sunil Kumar, Parvesh Bhainswal, and Sachin Tanwar – who were the reasons for Gujarat’s success last year have failed to give their best in the last few matches and that is probably a reason for their downfall off late. However, beating Bengaluru Bulls at the latter’s home would have given the team the much-needed confidence to go ahead in the tournament. Sunil and Bhainswal have struggled in the cover combination while raider Sachin has only 48 points from 10 matches so far.

“Whenever a team loses, there is something missing otherwise a team will never lose, that is the thing we need to keep in mind and work upon. The top players are not able to perform 100% and that is why we are losing the matches but this happens in sports. You can never have extremely good or bad performance and it's going to go through the ups and downs. The player, who is going to play on the field is the one whose performance will matter and yes, we have to agree that we should have continued winning after the first three matches and not go downhill. Our winning players like Sunil, Parvesh, Sachin, and Rohit have failed together and not like just one is not doing well. But we are full of hopes as it is a three-month-long league and if they are not performing well in 15-20 days, their performance will definitely go up in the rest of the 1.5 months,” the coach mentioned.

Gujarat had Sachin Vittala and Ruturaj Koravi as the two corner defenders in the last season. However, this year they have brought in two youngsters Sumit Malik, who is the brother of skipper Sunil, and Ankit at the left and right corners of the mat respectively. Gujarat also tried out Pankaj in place of Sumit and he did a pretty decent job with nine points from three games. Manpreet, who had led Patna Pirates to their first-ever title in the third season, explained Gujarat’s idea of bringing in young talents from various parts of the country into the league.

“Gujarat’s motive is to find Kabaddi talent from all over India and give them ample amount of chances to play from our team so that they will do well for us now and in the future for India as well. We get satisfaction in playing the players who were unknown before Pro Kabaddi and to find them is a big challenge as well.

All the players that we have brought in and mentored have done really well and very few players are able to come into PKL for the first time. Our sporting staff are brilliant and our owners are always motivating us to play the young players and trust them so that is why youngsters come in and are able to perform well whether be it Ankit, Sumit or Pankaj,” Manpreet added.

He also spoke about the importance of the all-rounders and expressed his satisfaction over the way Rohit Gulia and GB More have played so far. “All-rounders in any game are important for the win whether be it kabaddi or anything else for that matter. In kabaddi, all-rounders are more successful and they work more for the team in raiding and defending like Rohit and GB More. So I think every player should be like that especially in Kabaddi as the more all-rounders, the more the team will do better in defence and raiding and hence they will win,” the player-cum-coach stated.

After representing the nation in the top tournaments and playing in the league for Patna Pirates, Manpreet turned into a coach and has also been able to put in some excellent performances with the Gujarat team as well. He and Neer Gulia have been together with the Ahmedabad-based team and the two coaches share a very good bond between them. During the interaction, he not only talked about his coaching career but also stressed the importance of players like Anup Kumar and Rakesh Kumar turning coaches for the sport.

“Neer Gulia is my friend since childhood and I have learnt a lot from him in life. He is like a big brother and I have learnt from him in my 20-25 years of Kabaddi. You have to know your duties as a coach like when to motivate a player, what to tell them, where are we making mistakes? You can’t go into a game like kabaddi with a plan you made sitting at home, it doesn’t work like that. In kabaddi you to make a strategies in every minute and every second of the game whether in defence or raiding and the more you are involved with the players, the better it is and you have to have the passion and I m connected with the team when we get points and when we lose them. The players understand and love me like a big brother and I also love my players a lot.”

The biggest thing is that, how many matches you have played on the field and how many outside it that matters. Now we have Anup Kumar and Rakesh Kumar they have played a lot of matches for India and won so many awards as well and even I have played a lot of Kabaddi. I started playing in primary school since 5th Standard and the Kabaddi I have played, has always been on the field like the main player and not outside so that benefits the team as you can teach your players more. There are two types of coaches one who become coaches after giving the test and reading theories whereas the other one has practical knowledge who has played so he has more knowledge and experience which Anup, Rakesh and I have and that is why they are able to teach the players,” Manpreet added.

“When you see a journey of a sportsman is always more interesting than the coach especially in Kabaddi because his role in Kabaddi is huge he has to take a lot of responsibilities,” the Giants’ coach signed off.