My job is to motivate the players, says Fazel Atrachali

U Mumba coach Anil Chaprana said that the game changed in the second half when their team got all out.

Puneri Paltan defeated U Mumba by 30-28 in a close encounter here on Sunday in PKL 9. It was a closely fought game where Puneri Paltan relied on their defence and U Mumba relied on their raiders. Iranian defenders Mohammad Nabibaksh and Fazel Atrachali got eight tackle points between them for Puneri Paltan. For Mumba, Guman Singh and Jai Bhagwan got 12 raid points between them. The game was nicely poised and it could have gone either way but Paltan inflicted an all-out at a crucial moment and took a lead. U Mumba coach Anil Chaprana after the game said that the match changed when Rinku Narwal got out while defending.

U Mumba: Coach Anil Chaprana and captain Surinder Singh

All out changed the game

The score was 20-20 with 10 minutes to go in the game and U Mumba had only two defenders left. Rinku got self out and Puneri Paltan got extra points for inflicting an all-out. "When Rinku got self out that's when the game changed for us, if he wouldn't have gotten out we would have won the game, once he got out, the all-out was inevitable", Anil Chaprana said at the end of the game.

Defence lapses changed the game

Captain Surendra also admitted that lapses in defence cost his side the game, "Our defence played well in the first half, we played as per our plan but that all out changed the game, we gave away three-four points while attempting tackles and that changed the game", Surendra Singh said after the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQYmQMYfWIY

Puneri Paltan: Captain Fazel Atrachali

On motivating his side

Captain Fazel Atrachali not only led from the front but was also very vocal throughout the PKL 9 game. When asked about this, he said, "It's my job to motivate my players, yes I was vocal but that is needed to charge up the team".

On the importance of the win

Puneri Paltan is currently eighth on the points table, they registered their first win of the season on Sunday. When asked about the importance of the win, Fazel Atrachali said, "Every game is important in the tournament if we have to qualify, each and every game is important. If you see, we are improving in every game. We would try to improve in future games as well and try to win the game against Telugu Titans as well."

Puneri Paltan will be up against Telugu Titans on October 18th. U Mumba will be playing against Haryana Steelers on October 21st.