"We could have easily beaten Patna Pirates if Ravinder Pahal played" - Gujarat Giants coach Manpreet Singh
Gujarat Giants head coach Manpreet Singh believes the result of his team's match against the Patna Pirates could have been different had the team's star defender Ravinder Pahal played tonight in Bengaluru.
The Ahmedabad-based franchise locked horns with the three-time champions Patna Pirates in a rematch of the fifth PKL season's final. The Prashanth Kumar Rai-led outfit emerged victorious narrowly by a scoreline of 27-26.
During the post-match press conference, Gujarat Giants coach Manpreet Singh was asked if Prashanth Kumar Rai's two-pointer raid in the 37th minute was the turning point of the match.
"See I think when Gujarat Giants raiders got Super-tackled twice that was the turning point of the match because we could have built a decent lead by completing an all-out," Manpreet Singh replied. "Also, in the do-or-die raid of Patna, Girish had to go out for medical reasons, Hadi came in and he was not warmed up well, and from that region only the two points were scored.
"I believe the defenders played better than the previous matches," he added. "But I think we could have easily beaten Patna Pirates if Ravinder Pahal played in his position."
Gujarat Giants will play their next match against Telugu Titans
Gujarat Giants are currently ninth in the points table with 15 points to their name from seven matches. The Ahmedabad-based franchise have not played to their full potential this season as they have registered only one win thus far.
The Giants will aim to return to the winning track when they battle the Telugu Titans on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top in that match.