PKL 10: Injuries to key players cost us the season, says U Mumba's Coach

The Warriors gave the home fans a reason to celebrate after their win over U Mumba.

Bengal Warriors notched their ninth victory of the Pro Kabaddi League season 10 (PKL 10) with a 46-34 win over U Mumba at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata on Monday, 12 February 2024. Playing at home, the outfit was buoyed by the fans’ support in the stands and edged past a free-falling visiting side.

The skipper, Maninder Singh, contributed with a Super 10 and led from the front after talking about improving his performance following the previous match. Nitin Kumar and Vishwas S contributed eight points each to help the side collect five points. On the other hand, Shivam (11) was the sole figure who played well in the U Mumba camp and the mood in the post-match press conference reflected the outfit’s disappointment after yet another defeat in the PKL 10 season.

Here are the excerpts from the post-match press interaction with both the Warriors and U Mumba:

K.C. Suthar on the reason for U Mumba’s struggles

Speaking on why the outfit has been struggling, the tactician said, “Injuries to experienced players in the team hurt us a lot. The players that were available today performed well and stuck to the strategy that we laid out but unfortunately, we could not secure the win.”

Watch the full Press Conference

Sourav on injuries to key players

The raider spoke about injuries to key players and how the bench players did well in their absence. He said, “We are missing Guman (Singh) and Rinku massively. However, looking towards the next season, the young players have a huge potential. The one positive to take away from this situation is that the bench players we had were good and they got the opportunity to showcase their quality.”

“We will play for pride and try to win in the upcoming matches,” he further added.

Hopefully, the performance carries forward into the forthcoming matches – K. Baskaran

“It was a good result for us because the mentality of the players suffered a setback following the defeat to Gujarat Giants. We had a discussion and talked about giving our best performance and not worrying about the outcome of the match. The raiders and defenders both did well and hopefully, the performance carries forward into the forthcoming matches.”

Our aim as a team is to win as many matches as we can in the home leg – Maninder Singh

Maninder Singh claimed that the Warriors will go all guns blazing in the remaining matches with hopes of a playoff qualification still alive. He said, “We were able to win today because of our quality. Our aim as a team is to win as many matches as we can in the home leg. We will give our best in the upcoming matches and put in our utmost effort.”

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