Five reasons why Patna Pirates are inconsistent in PKL 9

The three-time winners are unable to meet the expectations of their fans so far.

Three-time champion Patna Pirates are at the eighth spot currently, with just three victories out of nine matches in PKL 9. This performance was not expected from such a big team. The team has had several changes this time, but on the other hand, they have got some big names as well, who were retained. Players like Sachin, Neeraj Kumar, and Mohammadreza Chiyaneh are the best in their business but so far unable to perform consistently in this edition.

Today, let us take a glance at a few reasons why the champion team is unable to show their best skills:

5. Change in the coaching department

The Patna Pirates had a great outing with Ram Mehar Singh and Sanjeev Kumar in the past. Both of them enjoyed success in their tenure as coaches. The legendary coach Ram Mehar Singh was the Pirates’ coach in the last season and the team reached the finals. One of the factors contributing to the inconsistency in the team’s performance could be the change in the coaching department. Every coach adopts his own method of coaching and it might be possible that the champion side is unable to grasp the way Ravi Shetty is coaching.

4. Over-confident defence

Even during Season 8, the defence of Patna Pirates was overconfident in a few games due to which they lost crucial battles. One of the games was against the Jaipur Pink Panthers, where the Men in Pink ended Patna’s six-match undefeated streak with a fabulous 10-point victory. The defence has been making the same mistakes by coming forward on many occasions in PKL 9, allowing the opposition to take points easily.

3. Big names unable to perform

If we look at the whole squad of Patna Pirates, we will find some exceptional names who gave their best in Season 8. One of them is Mohammadreza Chiyaneh, who was the showstopper in the previous edition. The champion from Iran earned the most super tackles with 86 points. With 10 High 5s, Chiyaneh was just unstoppable last time. This season, the 22-year-old is yet to give a memorable performance. If he couldn’t do it in the coming games, the Pirates will continue to blow hot and cold on the mat. Sachin and Monu have to be at their best to keep the team’s hopes alive.

2. Lack of winning attitude

We have seen in the previous editions that Patna Pirates have always been alive till the last minute of every game. This time, the whole team is lacking in similar intent. This could be because of the consecutive losses in the first phase of the league. But a team like Patna Pirates has to come back stronger to move up the table. Skipper Neeraj Kumar believes that the team will make a comeback in the upcoming games.

1. Too much dependency on Sachin Tanwar

With raiders like Monu, Rohit Gulia, Sukesh Hegde, and Abdul Insamam in the squad, the team is still dependent on Sachin for the majority of the raid points they scored in PKL 9. The excessive pressure on him is also the reason why he is not performing at his best consistently. The teams need to rethink their strategies and give equal responsibilities to the players. There is a clear lack of understanding in the team, which is why they have won only one game till now. Converting tight games into victories is another issue with the team.