‘Defender Reza Mirbagheri was determined to raid for us,’ says Jaipur Pink Panthers’ Captain Sunil Kumar

The Jaipur Pink Panthers pulled off a gripping 25-24 victory over Tamil Thalaivas in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 on Saturday. The teams were locked at 22-22 with three minutes to go on the clock when the Panthers sent the defender Reza Mirbagheri for a Do-or-Die raid and he changed the game for his team.

Speaking about sending in Reza for the raid, the Jaipur Pink Panthers Captain Sunil Kumar said, “Only myself, Reza and Ankush were on the mat before the Do-or-Die raid. We were thinking of bringing in a raider instead of Reza, but he told me that he’s confident about attaining a raid point. Then our Coach said let’s send him for the raid since he was showcasing confidence.”

Sunil further added, “Our team made a great comeback in the match. Reza Mirbagheri pulled off a couple of brilliant Super Tackles. His raid point was the turning point of the match. The Thalaivas’ defence unit played very well, but our defenders also stood tall.”

The Jaipur Pink Panthers clinched the victory on the back of 11 tackle points in the game. When asked if the team is relying too much on its defence unit this season, the Captain said, “The defenders win you kabaddi games. If the defence unit doesn’t let the opposition score too many raid points then it becomes difficult for them to move the game forward. However, we have some brilliant raiders and I feel that our offence unit will do better than our defence unit in our upcoming games.”

Preview for the matches on Monday

The Bengal Warriors will be looking to get back into winning ways when they take on Dabang Delhi K.C., however, the Delhi side’s raider Ashu Malik has showcased excellent form this season and will certainly look to take his team over the line.

Meanwhile, the Haryana Steelers will be looking to recover from their narrow loss against Telugu Titans. However, the Tamil Thalaivas’ raider Himanshu Narwal and defender Sahil Gulia will pose a strong challenge to the Steelers.

The schedule for PKL Season 10 match on Monday

Game 1 – Bengal Warriors vs Dabang Delhi K.C. – 8 pm

Game 2 – Tamil Thalaivas vs Haryana Steelers – 9 pm

Venue: Chennai