PKL 10: Patna Pirates' captain Sachin Tanwar credits defensive upgrade for playoff qualification

The Pirates confirmed their place in the PKL 10 playoffs in style.

Pro Kabaddi League 10 (PKL 10) playoffs will see the Patna Pirates as one of the participating teams after the outfit secured a spot courtesy of a 38-36 win over the Telugu Titans at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata on Tuesday, 13 February 2024. It was a hugely entertaining contest, decided by a difference of mere two points, which saw players like Pawan Sehrawat (16) and Manjeet (8) perform fabulously for their respective teams.

Despite a magnificent performance by skipper Pawan Sehrawat, the Telugu Titans suffered yet another defeat and remained at the bottom of the points table. On the other hand, the win took Patna Pirates to 68 points, thus confirming their qualification into the playoffs of the PKL 10 campaign.

The mood during the post-match press conference was contrasting between the members of both teams. Here are the excerpts from the conversation:

Dr Srinivas Reddy’s take on the defeat

Analysing the defeat, the tactician said, “The performance was good from the team according to the plan we had set out before the game. There were a few mistimed tackles where our defenders needed to be more patient which was a turning point that shifted the momentum in their favour. However, our team has played well in recent times and as a coach, I am satisfied.”

Pawan Sehrawat on the team’s weakness

Telugu Titans have a tendency where it ends up gifting points right after the end of the first half according to their skipper. He said, “It was a good performance by the team, the defence started well and tackled players like Sachin and Sandeep brilliantly. The period between 21 and 30 minutes is our weak point where we give away a lot of points. In that period, whether it is the defence or offence or even I as a player, concede a lot of points.”

It was a pressure game – Narender Kumar Redhu 

The tactician spoke about mitigating the speedy start to the game and doing things that helped the Pirates eventually come out on top. He said, “The match was too fast in the beginning which went against our planning so we had to slow the game down a bit. As the match went on, Sachin did well and we controlled Pawan Sehrawat which ended up helping us. It was a pressure game as there was qualification on the line for us.”

Sachin on working on the mistakes

The skipper was elated to secure playoff qualification and credited his team’s willingness to improve on its mistakes for the achievement. He said, “It feels great to qualify for the last six. Our team has been doing well and it feels brilliant to cross that line. The mistakes in the defence from the first 10-12 matches have been worked upon which has helped us in the season. There was confidence in the team that we would win but it was slightly unexpected to see it go down the line like it did.”

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