Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Captain Rohit Kumar takes blame for Bengaluru Bulls' exit from tournament

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Rohit Kumar (right) was honest in his explanation

The Bengaluru Bulls will not be able to forget Sunday night anytime soon. While they won the battle against UP Yoddha in the Pune leg of the Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5, they eventually lost the war. Needing to win the game by a margin of 8 or more, Bengaluru fell two points short as they could only manage a 38-32 win.

This victory means nothing in the larger scheme of things. UP needed only a point to ensure their safe passage into the playoffs and they just about managed to do so, huffing and puffing their way for a solitary point.

The Bulls captain, Rohit Kumar was impressive, scoring 13 raid points. However, he was tackled at the crucial interval. Leading by a healthy 10 points, Bengaluru could have consolidated the lead by slowing down the pace of the game.

Instead, their star man, Rohit was a tad excited which ultimately proved to be their undoing. Kumar was over aggressive in his approach and ended up getting tackled when his team needed him the most.

In his absence, the team found it extremely tough to keep it tight and hold it together. Post his ouster, Bengaluru let go of their crucial lead and in the process, they also let go of their hopes for a playoff berth.

Post the match, Rohit took the blame for his side's exit from the tournament upon himself and rued the fact that his side was not able to win by a bigger margin. However, it must be noted that Kumar put in a solid effort and was not ably supported by his fellow raiders. His right hand man, Ajay Kumar had an off night, scoring just 4 raid points.

"We were five men and I got tackled. It was my mistake. It was just the first raid, it was not the third raid. I should have come back safely to my half. In fact their raider could have been out in the next raid since it was their third raid and there would have been more pressure on them. This mistake led to the loss," he lamented.

Rohit revealed that coach Randhir Singh had pleaded with them to slow down the pace of the game at half-time. However, given the pressure situation at hand, he failed to pay heed to Singh's instructions.

"The coach had warned us to only attempt a point on the third raid. We had a 10-point lead but I was too excited and hurried myself. I admit I made a mistake," he signed off.

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