Didn't expect this big victory against Telugu Titans, says Sunil Kumar

Jaipur Pink Panthers thrashed the team at the bottom 51-27 and moved to the top spot in the points table.

Pro Kabaddi League PKL Season 9 saw another triple header on Saturday, including a one-sided affair between Sunil Kumar's Jaipur Pink Panthers and Venkatesh Goud Survi's Telugu Titans. Though the Pink Panthers were favourites to win the clash, no one expected them to win it by that big a margin of 24 points. The score was 51-27, which proved to be one of the biggest victories for the Jaipur Pink Panthers to date.

They have moved to the top spot with five victories out of six, while the Telugu Titans are at the bottom with just one victory. Let’s take a look at what the coaches and captains of both teams had to say after the game. Have a glance:

Jaipur Pink Panthers: Coach Sanjeev Baliyan and Captain Sunil Kumar

Did you expect this game to be a one-sided affair?

Captain Sunil Kumar, who played a handy part in Jaipur Pink Panthers’ victory, made it clear that their team’s strategy worked. He said, "No, we did not expect this big victory because of some exceptional players playing in the Telugu Titans squad. In the first half, our raiders, including Arjun Deshwal and Rahul Chaudhari, were phenomenal, which became the reason for our early lead. This was one of the days where our strategy worked brilliantly, and we got the better off our opposition."

How do you see making strategies for a top team and a team that is constantly losing?

Coach Sanjeev Baliyan stated that the Telugu Titans are not a small name in the PKL 9 league. They have some brilliant players which can turn the game around at any time. He said, "Telugu Titans are one of the sides that have all the basics covered in terms of raiders and defenders. We know they can win from any point, which is why we didn't take them lightly from the start. Of course, we didn’t expect this match to be this easy. I would give credit to Sunil, our captain, because of the way he used his raiders."

We have seen the raiders do brilliantly, but your defence was exceptional today. What would you say on this?

Sunil Kumar believes that both the departments in Kabaddi are equally important. He said, "Kabaddi is all about both raiding and defending. If the raiders give their best, then the defence will gain confidence and vice-versa. I am happy with my team’s performance. Now, our target is to reach the playoffs and then move to the finals. Still, I would say that it’s the early stages with just 6 games being played till now."

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

Telugu Titans: Coach Venkatesh Goud Survi and Captain Ravinder Pahal

What would you say about too many substitutes being used by your team?

Telugu Titans Coach Venkatesh Goud Survi did not see any problem with using more substitutes. He said, "If some raider or defender is not playing well, then it is always good to use your other players. Any team would do anything to make a good combination for that particular game, and we did exactly that. Hopefully, we will come back stronger in the next game."

Being a superb raiding and defence department, where do you see things going wrong?

The coach has focused heavily on training and is unsure of what is going wrong in PKL 9. Venkatesh Goud Survi said, "The training has been fantastic, but the performance on the field is completely the opposite. I believe that advanced tackling made our team under confident today. We will give our best in the next game."