"If the coach makes such decisions, it is by giving some thought" - Telugu Titans coach Srinivas Reddy on substituting Pawan Sehrawat
Telugu Titans, who are going through a horrendous PKL season, skimmed past a major controversy on Monday.
The biggest turning point of their game against Haryana Steelers, which they lost by a 30-37 margin, was when skipper Pawan Sehrawat was substituted by coach Srinivas Reddy.
The major decision seemed to spur the Titans on towards making a big comeback against the Steelers, but eventually, they fell short by seven points.
As was expected, Sehrawat was deeply upset by the decision and kept arguing with Reddy throughout the game while sitting on the bench.
Reddy and Sehrawat then seemed to take their difference up a notch further by taking digs at each other in the post-match press conference without quite answering in the affirmative.
The coach explained his stance when he was asked about the decision to sub Sehrawat off.
"Well, if the coach makes such decisions, it is always by giving it some thought. Since Pawan (Sehrawat) was getting out repeatedly, and Sandeep (Dhull) was getting out repeatedly, we had to make those changes. We wanted to see if the changes could help us win the game," said Reddy.
Sehrawat was given the opportunity to speak next, and when Sportskeeda asked him what he made of the momentum that was tilting in favour of the Titans despite the defeat on the night, he appeared nonplussed.
"I am not sure of the plans or our momentum. I think it is better if we let coach (Srinivas Reddy) to talk about our plans," said Sehrawat, clearly irritated by the question.
"We have understood that the seniors have not been able to perform up to the expectations" - Srinivas Reddy
Sehrawat deflected the question onto Reddy, which was a clear indicator of how he was feeling on the night.
Sometimes, the media gets too harsh on the participants of a sport by putting them in the limelight soon after the heat of the battle, and such was the case on Monday as well.
Reddy, however, took the deflected question from Sehrawat rather well and spoke about what his team's plans for the rest of the season were.
"I think our plans are quite simple. We have understood that the seniors have not been able to perform up to the expectations so far in the season. We do not have chances of qualifying now, so we can very well try and experiment. This is a good platform for us to try and give opportunities to our young players. We would like to check the potential of these young players, and see which of the NYP (New Young Players) we would like to retain," said Reddy.
Reddy seemed to have struck a blow to Sehrawat by mentioning the performance of 'senior players' which evinced a non-commital wince from the latter.
However, Sehrawat seemed graceful enough when answering questions about what he expects from the Tamil Thalaivas, whom the Titans face at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
"Well, as our coach often says, ten out of our eighteen players are young. But, sometimes, it gets a little difficult to make them understand a few details. So, I feel that we need to play according to the situation. Anyway, Tamil Thalaivas are my former team, so I would want to do well against them and win," concluded Sehrawat.