Ashwal Rai: We feel no pressure as defending champions

The Kolkata Thunderbolts captain scored 12 points in his team's clinical performance against Hyderabad Black Hawks.

Prime Volleyball League’s defending champions Kolkata Thunderbolts powered past Hyderabad Black Hawks 4 sets to 1 with a scoreline of 15-13 15-7 15-9 15-12 8-15. Universal Vinit Rai starred with a complete performance that tallied 15 points, the Thunderbolts continued their rampaging unbeaten run stretching back to the previous PVL season.

Vinit had a success rate of 66.7% in attack, but the Thunderbolts captain Ashwal Rai also hit double figures, mainly through his defensive contributions. Ashwal spoke to Khel Now after the match on battling injury and the defending champions tag. Here is what the ace middle blocker had to say.

Thoughts on the game

Kolkata Thunderbolts won the first four sets, and despite fighting back to hold the lead in the fifth, could not manage to see the game off and bag a bonus point. Ashwal Rai said, “Last time (vs Bengaluru Torpedoes) we lost two sets after winning the first three. We did not want to repeat the negligence. The fifth set we could not win, so we missed out on the bonus. Hyderabad are by no means a weak team. Every team could face slumps, but we can’t consider any team weak. Our next PVL game is again Kochi Blue Spikers, every team can make it to the playoffs so we concentrate game by game and focus on our upcoming opponents.”

Playing through pain

Ashwal suffered a left shin injury and played the second set with extra taping. Despite this, the captain was incredible in both attacking and defensive aspects. Ashwal said, “ As a sportsman, all that is common but the team should not lose. Our physio Dr Utkarsh is a very good physio, and his taping helped me play through pain. Our franchisee has also given us all facilities.”

Top Blocker in the league

Ashwal rose to the top of the charts for the most blocks in PVL season 2. He still believes that there are some improvements to be made, “My blocking is actually weak, so I am concentrating on that and working with the coach. I still have to rectify some mistakes.”

On the superstar Cody Caldwell

Being the only returning foreign player in the league this season, Cody Caldwell brings with him a wealth of skill, knowledge and experience for the relatively young Thunderbolts team to feed off from. Ashwal Rai was all praise for Cody and said, “Cody played last season and we became even more powerful when he joined us. Cody is an amazing all-round player: first pass, defense, attack, and service. He is guiding our youngsters and developing their techniques and improvising. He is an experienced international and guides me as well. We have learnt a lot from him and we are grateful to have him.”

Team bonding ahead of a competitive season

With the addition of the Mumbai Meteors and the subsequent player auctions levelling the teams to some extent, Ashwal was vary of the competition ahead of a challenging season, “Pre-season bonding has helped our team gel well. We get very involved in the games and hope this continues like this and we end up winning the cup. No pressure as defending champions, not even 1%. We need to carry over the momentum after winning games on the trot.”