"I was a bit defensive, my personal plan didn't work" - Pawan Sehrawat opens up on Bengaluru Bulls' big loss to UP Yoddha
The Bengaluru Bulls shrugged off a loss against UP Yoddha to register Pro Kabaddi 2022's biggest win in terms of points, a 61-22 demolition of Dabang Delhi in Match 50 of PKL 8.
The Bulls were coming off a 27-42 loss to the Yoddha, but against a listless Delhi side sans Naveen Kumar, Pawan Sehrawat's men were on top of their game. Pawan individually notched up 27 points to his name, 5 points more than the Joginder Narwal-led side's total, highlighting Delhi's disastrous outing on the night.
Reflecting on what changed in the strategy and plans to reverse fortunes in style, Bulls' skipper Pawan shed light on a personal plan which didn't go to script against the Yoddha.
"In that match (against UP) I was sending Bharat and Ranjith more for raids, I thought when the team is in trouble I would raid. That was a personal plan of mine, but it didn't work out and we lost the match," Pawan responded to a query from Sportskeeda.
Pawan further explained how in his move to opt for a strategy outside his attacking style of play, the ploy failed against UP, and he was back to the basics against Delhi.
"I am an attacking raider, that day I was a bit defensive. I thought first we'll send Bharat and Ranjith, and then I'll go in to raid, which was wrong. Today I took up the main responsibility."
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"We had prepared well for Naveen" - Pawan Sehrawat
In the absence of Naveen Kumar, who has single-handedly led Dabang Delhi to multiple wins in Pro Kabaddi 2022, the team had no answers to the Bulls' powerful onslaught, both on the raiding and defensive fronts.
That Pawan outscored the entire Pro Kabaddi team was rubbing salt on the wounds, but for a team that had occupied the top position in the Pro Kabaddi points table 2022 until a few days back, this massive loss would have certainly come as a rude shock.
When asked if Naveen's presence on the mat would have altered the result, Pawan confidently spoke about how the Bulls had their plans in place for Delhi's lead raider.
"We had prepared well for Naveen, so even if he had played, we might have seen a similar result. The work we've put it, I would have also matched him for points. It wouldn't have been this big a lead, but we had done enough work before the match to stop him from running away with the game."
Courtesy of the 39-point pounding of Delhi, the Bulls are now only one point adrift of table-toppers Patna Pirates at the time of writing this piece. With six wins from nine matches of PKL 8, the Bulls are right on course to qualify for the Pro Kabaddi 2021 knockouts.