Pro Kabaddi 2019: "Pawan is not just a raider but also a top-class all-rounder," says Bengaluru Bulls coach Randhir Sehrawat
Bengaluru Bulls, the defending champions, clinched the sixth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League after defeating the mighty Gujarat Fortune Giants. Going into the seventh season, coach Randhir Singh Sehrawat retained the outstanding Pawan Sehrawat and undoubtedly, the magnificent Rohit "Akki" Chillar, prior to the auctions.
With the core retained, the coach decked up the team with a plethora of young and experienced players in his squad. Kicking off the season 7 campaign, they emerged victorious in their first match against three-time champions, Patna Pirates.
After a discouraging loss at the hands of Gujarat Fortune Giants, the Bulls made an intense comeback in their next battle and vanquished U Mumba.
Moving onto the Patna-leg, the squad was strong and all ready to slay the teams in their path. Pawan was swift and had 29 brilliant points to his name in the match against Bengal Warriors. Blowing minds with his immaculate show, Sehrawat played like a one-man army and got the victory for Bengaluru Bulls from the jaws of defeat.
On the second last-day in Patna, the Bulls took the mat against Siddharth Desai's Telugu Titans and demolished them to bits, winning the match in amazing fashion.
Pawan had a great night with 17 points to his name. Rohit, who had a lacklustre start in season 7, also pitched in some crucial points.
Mahender Singh also completed his high five that night, given that the Bulls inflicted a crazy amount of super-tackles on Telugu's raider. Pawan, who is usually a raider, turned his game to a different direction and initiated two successful all-outs, completely changing the game.
When asked about Rohit's performance in the match against the Titans, coach Sehrawat looked at him and chuckled.
"I have always said that a team with unity is the team which wins. Pawan has been displaying a top-notch performance since the season commenced. However, Rohit realized that the amount of criticism he was receiving was huge and *laughs* finally decided to take some action. Not only did he play like a star but also helped Pawan perform his best."
Quizzed about his team's performance, Randhir looked euphoric and proud of his full squad.
"Every member of the team contributed to our victory. Mahender did an impressive job and scored his first high-five of the season. Siddharth, who is one of the top young guns of the sport, was kept at bay by my defenders."
A jolly glimmer in his eyes, the coach opened up on his views about Pawan scoring four solid points in defence.
"What he did tonight was neither a tackle nor a super-tackle, it was a "super-duper" tackle, which is quite rare to witness in the league. Pawan is not just a raider but a top-class all-rounder. I asked him to take the place of Ashish, our right-cover, who has not been in his best form since the past few matches."
Congratulating Pardeep on his 900-point milestone, he replied,
"I am the proudest man right now. He was introduced to the league by me back in season 2. Seeing him achieve such a level of success makes me really happy."
Bengaluru Bulls will play their next match in Ahmedabad against the Haryana Steelers, who are also coming from a cracking victory against the green army, Patna Pirates.
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