Instructions from UP Yoddhas' coach derailed my form says Bengal Warriorz's Nitesh Kumar: Exclusive

Nitesh Kumar spoke on several topics including his poor form in the last few seasons.

Nitesh Kumar is one of the most revered players, going around in the kabaddi circuit. Having made his Pro Kabaddi League debut in the fifth edition, for the UP Yoddhas, he has not looked back ever since.

After impressing with a tally of 49 points in his debut campaign, Nitesh Kumar created history in the sixth season, becoming the first player to score 100 tackle points in a season, a record which is yet to be broken. More success followed in the next two seasons thereafter.

However, fate wasn’t as kind to him as before in the last two editions. He mustered only 34 points in 2022. This was followed by a total of 38 tackle points in 16 matches in the previous season, as he found himself on and off the bench.

The Indian international was released by the Yoddhas. In the auction, he surprisingly couldn’t gather much interest and was picked up by the Bengal Warriorz at his base price of Rs. 13 lakhs.

As they say, form is temporary, but class is permanent. Nitesh would be raring to take the mat for his new team. As he prepares for the upcoming season of the PKL, he took some time and in an exclusive interview with Khel Now, spoke about his preparation, his new team, and his targets for the 11th edition of the league.

Here are some excerpts from the interview.

Experience till now with his new team

“It feels good to have joined the Bengal Warriorz. It is a strong team with good management. We have a good set of players, including myself, Fazel, Maninder, Nitin and Arjun Rathi.

“Our training is going well, and we have good coordination. Every player in the team has a different role, whether it is me, Fazel, or the covers. Mayur Kadam (right cover) and Parveen (left cover) have been doing well in training. While we have superstars in raiding, our defense too is strong.”

Playing with Fazel Atrachali

For company, Nitesh, a right corner, will have none other than the ‘Sultan’ Fazel Atrachali, occupying the position of the left corner. The Iranian legend is the most prolific defender in the league’s history, with a total of 486 tackle points. Nitesh was extremely excited about being part of unarguably the most potent corner pairing, among the 12 teams.

“I am very excited to play with Fazel. Happy to have the ‘Sultan’ playing in the opposite corner. He is the number one defender in the league and has performed consistently for a long time. Playing with him is feeling good, during practice itself. Hopefully, our combination does well in the league.”

Watch the full Interview here:

The Maninder Singh effect

In Maninder Singh, Bengal Warriorz also have the second-best raider in the history of the league. With a total of 1428 PKL career raid points, Maninder is already a legend in the league. He will be ably supported by Nitin Kumar, who was retained after an impressive debut season last year.

Nitesh, 27, discussed how the confidence of the players increases, when both the defense and offense are strong. The raiders as well as the defenders play freely, as they know that they will be surely revived even if they make mistakes.

“We need to support each other. The Raiders will keep an eye out to watch if their defense is strong enough to revive them if they get tackled. It works the other way around too. Since we have good raiders, we defenders are confident that even if we make advance tackles and are tagged out, we will be revived.”

Not worried about milestones

With a total of 350 tackle points in his PKL career till now, the 400-point mark is well in sight for Nitesh. A player of his caliber would surely be backing himself to get those 50 points. However, the player emphasised that he would not want to worry about personal stats.

“The only thing I want to focus is on how to do my best for the team. The team doing well is the priority. My training is also according to that. Anyways, I can assure you that I will be getting those 50 points, but I don’t want to get distracted thinking about milestones.”

Training under new head coach Prashant Surve

The Warriorz parted ways with coach Bhaskaran and appointed Prashant Surve as the new head coach. He will be assisted by Praveen Yadav. Nitesh found several differences in the tactics of his former and new head Coaches.

“Both coaches have different strategies, methods of training, gameplan,” he says. “What I learned from the coach is to keep my mind cool and play. Irrespective of tackles being successful or not, don’t become hyper. There will be up-and-downs, but a player will do well if he plays with a good temperament.”

Poor form in the last two seasons

The last few seasons have not gone according to plan for the former Yoddhas player. When he was out of form, coach Jasveer Singh then instructed him to focus on staying on the mat, rather than making rash tackles and getting tagged out. As a result, Nitesh experienced a huge dip in his tally of tackle points.

“I had instructions from the coach to initiate fewer tackles and play cautiously. Otherwise, there was no change in my routine. I used to train in the same manner.

“Strategies are made so that the team wins. If a player makes 10 tackles and the team loses, then it’s of no use. On the other hand, if a player makes two or three tackles only but the team wins, then it feels good that the team did well. I don’t want to play to improve my stats, but to help the team. I was avoiding making tackles last year, sometimes overdoing it. I am hoping I will do better this time.

“I am ready for the upcoming season. I have practiced hard. Hopefully, you’ll get to see something different this time.”

Shadloui’s near-tryst with history

In the previous edition, left corner Mohammadreza Chiyaneh Shadloui came close to becoming the second defender to breach the 100-point mark in the PKL, but eventually ended with 99 tackle points. Playing the final, the Iranian young superstar had his chance to create history.

While his team, the Puneri Paltan, did end up winning their first-ever title, Shadloui eventually fell a hair’s breadth short of the milestone.

Nitesh was closely watching on. However, he maintained that he never hoped for the Iranian to not break his record. “We cannot think in such a manner while playing sports. Records are meant to be broken! What I can tell you, though, is that Shadloui was playing in the same manner as I did in season 6. He was making advanced tackles too.

“I was expecting him to cross me. But with two minutes remaining on the clock, he conceded a point. With him going onto the bench, it became clear that he won’t be able to do it.

“But I can assure you, I wasn’t hoping that he wouldn’t reach the hundred-mark. Someday, I myself maybe can extend my record!”

Main target for the season

The defender stated that his primary aim is to lift the trophy this time. While it is a chance for him to clinch his first-ever PKL title, he also realizes that the team, which looks extremely strong on paper this time, would want to end the long wait of their passionate fans for a second title.

“My main target is that we become champions again. The Bengal Warriorz were champions in season 7, hopefully, we see a repeat of that in season 11.”

Message for the fans

Nitesh Kumar signed off with a few words for his fans.

“You guys have been supporting me right from the beginning. Please keep supporting me and the team. The most important aspect of a team doing well is its fanbase. If there are a huge number of fans, the morale of the team as a whole, as well as the individual players is high.”

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