Picture Credit: PKL
It was a bad day in the office for Pro Kabaddi League defending champions Bengal Warriors as they lost to Puneri Paltan by a massive margin of 12 points. The Maninder Singh-led team was outdone in all the departments and therefore the coach was not so pleased. BC Rameh called out for a change in the playing 7 after a disappointing show.
Speaking to reporters after the match, coach BC Ramesh pointed out the mistakes his team made. He looked unhappy with the defenders in particular. "Left cover (Amit Nirwal) did not perform so well. Even ankle holds are important, but Abozar did not attempt it regularly. I think that was the main problem. If you see right raiders did not score much, we gave points to left raider only," said Ramesh. The defender duo of Amit and Abozar Mighani rarely performed as Amit did not score a single point while Abozar had a success rate of 20% while tackling.
Pointing out all the mistakes, BC Ramesh indicated a change in the playing 7 and said will discuss the same with skipper Maninder Singh. "In the upcoming matches, we will plan better. I will plan with the captain, and we will decide who will play where," the Bengal coach added. He also talked about Maninder Singh's late assault and said it would have been better if he struck in the first half.
"Maninder Singh performed well in the second half, but it would have been better had he scored more points in the first half," said BC Ramesh. "Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh is the main raider only. We prefer to play him as a raider. However, he could not perform well tonight. Their defense tackled him well," BC Ramesh stated about another lead raider Nabibakhsh.
Puneri Paltan outclassed Bengal
The Pune-based franchise completely outclassed the defending champions in Match 43 of the Pro Kabaddi League season 8. Raider Aslam Inamdar was the star for Puneri Paltan. Aslam Inamdar scored a Super 10 (17 points) while Abinesh Nadarajan clinched a High 5 (5 tackle points) for Puneri Paltan who had a near-flawless performance on the mat. Captain Maninder Singh clinched a Super 10 for the Warriors, but he proved to be the sole performer for a team desperately short of confidence.