PKL 2019 | Fit after minor knee injury, Dharmaraj Cheralathan confident to lead Haryana Steelers to glory in home leg

09/27/2019

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Haryana Steelers skipper Dharmaraj Cheralathan has said that he and his team are fully confident of playing well in their upcoming home leg in the seventh season of the PKL. He also talked about the reason behind his fitness and his bonding with his former teammate and current coach Rakesh Kumar.

Captain Dharmaraj Cheralathan didn’t play the last two games of Haryana Steelers because of a minor knee injury but the 44-year-old star defender is fit now and is looking forward to do well in their home leg which is about to start from Saturday. Haryana are currently at the third place on the points table with 59 points from 17 games and their main aim will be making it to the playoffs by winning matches at home.

Haryana will take on UP Yoddha in their first home game on Saturday while their next three matches in Panchkula will be against Gujarat Fortunegiants, Bengaluru Bulls and Telugu Titans. Speaking exclusively to SportsCafe, Cheralathan has said that all his players are fully fit and eager to perform in front of the home crowd in Panchkula.

“We have prepared well for the home leg and we have made proper planning for the four matches. We all have good fitness as well. We are confident of playing well and winning matches here,” Cheralathan told SportsCafe.

Ahead of the auctions for the seventh season, Haryana Steelers had announced Rakesh Kumar as their new coach and he managed to rope in his former senior teammate as team’s top defender and made him the skipper as well. Cheralathan and Rakesh have played for many years together and they represented the Railways in many tournaments. The captain shared that the bonding between both of them is all the same and they are working together towards the betterment of the team as coach and captain.

“We have played around 15 years together for the Railways. So, we know each other really well. He has full faith in me that I can control the team and the players will do well with you both there,” the 44-year-old defender stated.

Cheralathan had started this year at the right corner position, a position where he also played for U Mumba in the last edition. However, after a few of the games, he was seen at the left corner with Sunil getting the right side position. When asked about this change in the strategy, the Haryana captain replied, “The left corner was a bit weak in the first few matches. We made the change according to our planning with the coach. He knows that I can play both the positions well and we went ahead with that. This tactical change was successful then and that is the reason we decided to continue with the same combination.”

Haryana have one of the strongest raiding units of the league considering their bench strength. As Vikash Kandola and Prashanth Kumar Rai were out of the first few games due to injuries, Naveen and Vinay had the maximum responsibility in the team and they also had K Selvamani with them. However, ever since the return of Kandola and with the form he is in, Haryana are marching ahead.

“The raiders are very good and all of them are playing well. We are also giving some chances to Naveen, he is also doing well. All are doing well together for the team and we are winning which is a great thing for all of us. Kandola, Prashanth Rai and Vinay are doing well and so is Naveen whenever he is getting chances. Selvamani (K) is out of the team and he is also a good raider,” mentioned Cheralathan.

In the absence of Cheralathan, Haryana defence looked a bit unorganised in their last two games against Bengal Warriors and Patna Pirates. Although they regrouped well against Patna and won the match, the loopholes were quite visible in the game against Maninder Singh and co. The skipper said that he takes control of the defence and as most of the other defenders are youngsters, Cheralathan tries to make them understand about the match situations.

“I consider the match-situation, timing and score. I keep talking to all the players and make them understand about all these aspects. They are youngsters and they get a bit excited while defending. I tell them when to take time and when to restrict the raiders from taking the bonus. This is a team game and all should do well together which is important,” the senior defender, who has 294 total points in PKL, explained.

“All of them are doing well. One or two mistakes are committed by all and that is not a big concern for us. I think the performance of everyone is good for the team.”

Despite his advancing years, Cheralathan is still going strong and has played all the seasons in the league. He is the senior-most active player on the mat in Indian kabaddi and continues to work hard and maintain a proper diet to stay fit and fine in spite of being 44.

“I always keep working on my fitness and maintain a particular diet. Some of the players don’t maintain those things once the league is over. Diet is the most important part and I keep focus on all those and am that’s why I am being able to play long,” Cheralathan concluded.