Bengaluru Bulls may have made things tough for itself registering a string of losses late in the league stage of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 but after a solid 20-point win against Gujarat Giants in Eliminator One on Monday, Pawan Sehrawat's is a side full of confidence.
In the post-match press conference, Pawan mentioned how coach Randhir Singh and he planned ahead the match against Giants. He said, "Whenever we lose a match, the coach and I have discussions, sometimes till two at night. We had played really well in the last match we played against Haryana (which Bulls won 46-24). We have three raiders (Bharat Naresh, Chandran Ranjith and Pawan himself) and the coach has instructed us three to maintain the pressure while raiding. We were able to implement 70 to 80 percent of our plan.
"There were a few mistakes but it was because the opponents were good too and had beaten us in our previous meeting (Giants had won 40-36). (Today), we have beaten that very side by 10-15 points (sic; 20 points). The defence did well and met the expectations of the three raiders. The seven players who played against the Haryana Steelers played today, so we are very happy as a team."
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Randhir said, "We planned on how and where to tackle their raiders. If our defense succeeds, then there is no problem as Pawan will definitely score 10-16 points. Therefore, we stressed a lot on our defense. Even Pawan contributed to the defense as you must have seen and Mahender as well rose to the occasion."
Apart from Pawan, raider Bharat has also impressed one and all with his performances in both offence and defence. Pawan said, "Coach especially keeps Bharat in the side for the ankle holds. Coach tells him during practice that if he can hold my ankle, then he can do it against everyone.
"Today, he might have been hit by one or two kicks but I don’t think anyone managed to pick up a bonus in front of him. Bonus would have been picked only when it would have been Aman alone but when Bharat is there, generally no bonus points are conceded. When we needed him in raiding, even there he proved himself.
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Many see the semifinal between Bulls and Dabang Delhi as a contest between two of the best raiders this season in Pawan and Naveen Kumar. However, Pawan said that they would not plan anything specifically for Naveen. He said, "I don’t feel we will plan solely for Naveen because it is not like Naveen Kumar and Pawan Sehrawat on their own can win matches for their teams. Naveen puts in a 12-15 point performance and Vijay too, if given the chance, will score these points. So, we will plan for everyone and not especially Naveen."
Randhir added they had some unfinished business left against Delhi. He said, " Uska bhi kuch udhaar baaki hai Delhi ka . We won the first game (61-22) but the second one ended in a tie (36-36). We know they have Naveen who is a good raider but we too have Pawan. It depends on whose defence succeeds, theirs or ours."
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