The match between Patna Pirates and Dabang Delhi was one of the best this season has seen. Patna Pirates made a remarkable comeback, but fell short by a whisker and Delhi emerged victorious. It was a match of nerves, where Dabang Delhi managed to hold their’s. Dabang Delhi stole the show in the first half, with Naveen, the star raider, completing his Super 10 in the first half itself, outclassing a tormented Patna Pirates side in the first half. The first half ended with a score line of 26-17.
But Patna Pirates led by Pardeep Narwal, made good ground in the second-half, making a grand comeback, and almost levelled the score. However, Delhi did too much in the first-half and Patna fell short of time to undo the poor first half, losing the game by three points, 38-35.
In the post-match press conference, Dabang Delhi coach Krishan Hooda, and captain Joginder Singh Narwal took questions for their team, while Patna Pirates were represented by skipper Pardeep Singh Narwal and coach Ram Mehar Singh.
Question- The team played well, but couldn’t finish off. Where did you fall short?
Ram Mehar Singh (Coach)– The team came under pressure in the first half, both defense and raid department didn’t play to their potential. But despite all that, we made a grand comeback, and almost finished-off with a win, but we made a mistake. In the last 1 minute, Pardeep decided to comeback without getting a touch point and that might have made the difference. In all fairness, we gave away a big lead to Dabang Delhi in the first half and the difference, cost us the game. The second raider also failed in the first half and that also put us on the back foot. The team played well in the second-half, and the defense also changed. Both the corners improved in the game and we look at it positively.
Question – The tournament is at the half-way stage and Patna Pirates is at the bottom. What would be your strategy now?
Ram Mehar Singh (Coach)– The strategy will be to strengthen the defense and the main raider must be assisted well by the second and the third raider. These are the aspects in the past that troubled the team in the first half.
Question– Is the team heavily reliant on Pradeep Narwal’s performances?
Ram Mehar Singh (Coach)– Look, if there is a star raider, then all the focus and attention naturally goes to him. He has been our star performer in the last 4 seasons and yes, the entire team revolves around him. But this is not the case just with us, Delhi is also heavily reliant on Naveen, Haryana Steelers are heavily dependent on Vikas Kandola and Pawan Sehrawat is the key player for Bengaluru Bulls.
It was Pardeep’s performance and strong defense that help us recover the deficit.
