Haryana Steelers were a bit low key in defense side in the first five minutes of the game. They lost their defenders on regular intervals as the Bengal captain Maninder Singh and K Prapanjan scored points off them with their terrific raids. However, they came up with a game changing strategy that allowed the them to capitalize on the match.
As the team got out twice in the first half, they changed their strategy in the defensive side. At the post-match conference, winning captain Dharmaraj Cheralathan told, “In the first half, we committed a mistake in the defense side and so we changed positions and came up with an immediate strategy. The change in defense got us success as things automatically started falling in the right place for us. We had a strong comeback in the match and also went on to win the match.”
Raider Vikash Kandola top scored with 11 points in the game, and also scored his fourth Super 10 this season. With the help of 11 raid points in the game, he even crossed 300 raid points. He took down the weak defense of the Bengal Warriors single-handedly. He had a wonderful day on the mat, and what made him happier was the team’s success. “Honestly speaking, my personal achievements don’t matter much to me as long as my team is doing well. And talking about today’s match, if the defense wouldn’t have done well, then our raiders wouldn’t have been able to perform wiith full liberty. They deserve the credit as well for this win. But for me, my team’s victory is more than any personal achievement.”
”Both the teams are playing well as the players from both the teams are determined to score points for their respective teams” Vikash added.
It was a riveting contest between the two teams as the game went down to the wire, however, it was the Haryana Steelers who had the last laugh. Haryana Steelers captain Dharmaraj Cheralathan was all praises for his players as he lauded the raiders, but gave equal credit to the defense as well, in scripting the teams’ win.
“First half saw our defense crumbled a little but they scripted a great comeback and the credit goes to the defenders a big time because if they wouldn’t have played well then our raiders would have been in a bit of pressure. We as a team synced very well and eventually, we tasted victory.”
“Actually the plan was to stop them (Bengal Raiders) from scoring as they play very fast and obviously we wanted to play a bit slower in order to prevent them from scoring points. Nonetheless, we succeeded and capitalized on the occasion” he further added.
Haryana Steelers coach Rakesh Kumar was elated with his team’s winning performance as his boys left no stone unturned to clinch the victory, going on to win the match by 36:33. Captain Dharmaraj, who rescued his team by scoring a mighty tackle with 6 minutes to play, stood firm, and the 44-year-old Kabaddi stalwart steadied the defense in the dying minutes of the match to secure an important win for the Steelers.
The team has registered their fifth win in the last 6 matches, and are now placed at the fifth position on the points table and would look to have an unbeaten streak in the coming legs of the tournament. The team is set to face Gujarat Fortunegiants in their next match at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex.
