Exclusive: Jasvir Singh reveals reasons for Pardeep Narwal's poor form

The UP Yoddha head coach also spoke about the team's chances of qualifying for the playoffs.

The teams have traversed more than half of the season at the Pro Kabaddi League this year. So far, we have seen many exciting matches in the tournament. UP Yoddha however, have failed to live up to expectations. The team are struggling to make it to the playoffs. The outfit had purchased one of the best raiders, Pardeep Narwal, for a record fee in the auction. That even made the franchise bid the highest amount in the history of the PKL. However, Pardeep has failed to live up to his team’s expectations.

In an exclusive conversation with Khel Now, Jasvir Singh, head coach of UP Yoddha, expressed his views on what went wrong with the team along with Pardeep Kumar’s poor performance.

Reasons for Pardeep Narwal’s poor performance

Pardeep Narwal hasn’t been at his best this season. So far in 16 matches, he has scored only 107 raid points and is not even in the top five in terms of most points. Many a times he was substituted between the matches itself. Coach Jasvir Singh gave a big reason for Pardeep Narwal's poor performance.

He said, “Due to COVID-19, Pardeep Narwal did not play a tournament like PKL for two years. He only took part in domestic tournaments and was not able to participate in bigger camps. The main reason for his poor performance is that he did not play any big competition for two years, which affected his game. Apart from this, other teams have also done a lot of homework against him. All the teams come up with their own strategy against the big players.

Jasvir Singh further said that everyone has a lot of expectations from such a big player and when that player does not play, it also affects the team. However, the management is ready for the second option as well and the players are given a free hand.

On chances of UP Yoddha qualifying for playoffs

Due to continuous defeats, the problems are increasing for the team of UP Yoddha and they are finding it very difficult to make it to the playoffs. However, coach Jasvir Singh believes that their hopes are still intact.

He said, “Our hopes of going to the playoffs are still intact. However, we have to win in the coming matches. Now, there is no room for error. Right now, we have high hopes in the coming matches."

The strength of the UP Yoddha has always been their defence. Their captain Nitesh Kumar also held the record for most tackle points in the seventh season, but this season the defence has also been below-par because of which the team has had to struggle a lot.

Talking about this, the coach said, “We are constantly working on our defence. Our defence has been good in some matches and bad in some matches. We are constantly trying to improve through video analysis and practice. Last season, our defence was very good. However, this time, there are some new players who are coming under pressure."

Views on performances of Shrikanth Jadhav & Surender Gill

Pardeep Narwal's performance may not have been good in the eighth season of PKL, but other raiders like Surender Gill and Shrikant Jadhav have certainly impressed. Coach Jasvir Singh explained why these raiders have been so successful.

“Both the players are very talented. It was a golden opportunity for Surender Gill and Shrikant Jadhav to prove themselves and whenever these players got a chance, they contributed 100% from their side. Pardeep Narwal has not played in many matches and we have won that too. Surender Gill was there in our academy for a year and this time we have worked on his bonus skills. Earlier, he couldn’t score bonus points. Right from the academy, it seemed that he would do well this season,” the head coach added.

On stifling Naveen Express’ game

Naveen Kumar of Dabang Delhi is showing tremendous form this season as well. He could not play in some matches due to injury. Despite this, he remains in the top five raiders of the season. Every single team has faced difficulties against him. However, according to Jasvir Singh, their defence has been able to match the pace of Naveen.

Due to COVID-19, this time the Pro Kabaddi League has been restricted to a single venue. All the matches are being organized in Bengaluru and the players do not need to go anywhere. According to Jasvir Singh, all the teams are benefiting a lot from this.

“All teams no longer have to travel extra. The facilities of everything here are very good. Gym, practice arrangements and food, everything is very good. The main focus of the players is only on match play and training. The facilities here are very good and due to this no one is facing any problem,” he concluded.

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