Sometimes in sport, the movie doesn’t go according to the script, and that uncertainty can lead to a massive downfall. It seems like this is what has happened with Bengal Warriors in the past two weeks, in the Pro Kabaddi League 10. After their 19-49 drubbing against Puneri Paltan, the team has lost its balance, and has failed to register a win after that.
What is even more surprising for the 2019 champions is, the margin of defeats, with Bengal managing only one tie, forget wins, in the last five matches. But then, as one understands with the PKL, a slump in form is only temporary, and the teams can bounce back in time, to make it to the playoffs.
Team raider Shrikant Jadhav goes by this thought as well, and feels that this downward movement will be overcome soon. Talking to InsideSport, he highlighted what really went wrong in the match against Paltan, and how they can arrest this slide.
No Need to Press Panic Button for Bengal Warriors
“For now, there is a lot of movement in the points table, but we look at it as a certainty that we will qualify for the playoffs,” Shrikant said. “Right now it is still early days in the tournament, and there is no reason why we can’t bounce back.”
Describing that fateful match, Shrikant said, “That one match against Puneri Paltan, we were super tackled a lot. The opposition gets two points for that, and that was the biggest reason for such a big loss.
“I think, it just happened in a loop in that match, that our raiders didn’t get any points, and were super-tackled quite a bit. With that, their confidence also went up. If we go by the theory, a raider wins matches; we completely failed. If the raiders don’t score, the team just can’t move forward.”
Tables Will Turn
Despite the setback, if the team loses hope at this point, where close to 13 matches are left, it is all but over for them. And anyways, all is not over for them, as they have the team to bring them back in the Pro Kabaddi.
“You can’t be bogged down by these losses. It’s a long league, and you need to be prepared to have bad days, and good days after the bad ones. It’s simple, we lose because we haven’t played well on a given day. That’s it.
“To judge a team, or write them off before 15-16 matches is very tough. If I may add, all 12 teams are equal at the moment, notwithstanding their position on the table,” Shrikant added. And one of the factors that might just help them, when it matters the most is, they have a major chunk of players who are from Maharashtra.
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So their inexperience doesn’t really count, as most of them have played together a lot. Shrikant also agrees, and says, “It’s a great thing that Bengal Warriors have so many players from Maharashtra. I think the brain behind this is our both coaches, and all the credit should go to them, to pick a squad that has experience of playing together.
“We know each other’s plus points, and know where to play them. That can be a huge bonus for us, in the business end of the tournament,” he concluded.
