PKL 2019 | Defensive errors cost us opportunity to start home leg with win, admits Rakesh Kumar

09/29/2019

Haryana Steelers coach Rakesh Kumar has asserted that it was the errors made in defence that cost his side the opportunity to start the home leg of PKL 2019 with a win. Instead, UP Yoddha edged the clash 37-30, thanks to a Super 10 from Shrikant Jadhav and a High 5 from skipper Nitesh Kumar.

At one point, the visitors were on the verge of an All-Out, but the Steelers defence went in for an advance tackle and slipped-up. In the end, Rakesh believes that it proved to be the difference between nearly sealing a playoff spot and a loss that builds doubt.

“Most of the errors happened in defence. The biggest mistake I feel was going for an advanced tackle on Shrikant Jadhav when they were on the verge of an All-Out. The match could have tilted in our favour. But we missed out on the opportunity to come back in the match when it was provided to us,” Rakesh was quoted saying at the post-match press conference by the Pro Kabaddi official website.

Strangely, as the coach also noted, the Steelers defence came out with a tactic of avoiding Yoddha’s raiders in the early stages. Rakesh feels that these early let-offs put them under more pressure and caused further slip-ups late in the game.

“I don’t know why the defence was avoiding their raiders so much in the starting period. Had they not avoided them, I’m sure some tackles could have been missed but a lot of them might have been successful. I think that was where we made an error. Avoiding tackles, in the beginning, put the defence under pressure and that caused more slip-ups. I think after halftime the match could have turned in our favour. The advanced tackle on Shrikant when they had just two left on the mat really made the difference,” Rakesh said.

Although he wasn’t happy with the all-round team performance, the coach was quick to appreciate the individual efforts of his raider Vinay and cover defender Ravi Kumar.

“Look, I’m unhappy with the entire team. Of course, they performed well for the team, but it is important that everyone performs at a high level. Ravi and Vinay played well but if the entire team had supported them then the result of the match could have been different. Anyway, we will improve on the mistakes we made here in the coming matches. We had hoped to start our home leg with a victory, but we will learn from this and I hope we can find success in our home leg going forward,” Rakesh added.

In the first of their remaining four games, the Steelers will go up against eighth-placed Gujarat Fortunegiants.