Coach Gowda stresses that Dabang Delhi will bounce back in Pro Kabaddi
While the Telegu Titans thrashed Dabang Delhi 36-27 in the season opener yesterday, coach Honnappa C Gowda quickly played down the result, emphasising, “The result however isn’t indicative of how close the match was and had we had our full squad available, the result could have very well been different”.
With Titans’ star raider and captain Rahul Chaudhuri accounting for Kashiling Adke with the 1st raid of the match and Deepak Vilas Hooda getting the better of Jasmer Gulia soon afterwards, Delhi were pushed on the backfoot immediately.
Rohit Kumar stood out with his raids and Ravinder’s calmness under pressure and the way he altered his usually extravagant game was exemplary. Known for his attacking prowess, he did brilliantly to pull off a couple of ankle-holds to thwart their raids. Local boy Kashiling too shone, especially in the later stages of the game, pulling off a couple of bonus points with his characteristically penetrative raids and was rather unsurprisingly rewarded with the “Audience Choice” award.
Needless to say, Surjeet Narwal was missed dearly but as coach Honnappa pointed out, the Dabangs should be able to bounce back.
How they cope with the damage will be most vital and while no one’s doubting their capability, it sure would be a task to return to winning ways.
Also Honnappa is a proven manager at this level, regardless of whether or not people approved of his methods today, it would unfair to disagree that there were positives for them yesterday.