Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Gujarat coach Manpreet Singh heaps praise on Chandran Ranjit
The Gujarat Fortunegiants pummelled former champions U Mumba 45-23 at the Harivansh Tana Bhagat Indoor Stadium in Ranchi on Wednesday and this time, it wasn't star raider Sachin Tawar who stole the show. Instead, unheralded 26-year-old Chandran Ranjit outshone everyone else as he ended up with a haul of 11 points in this clash.
Ranjit has played just three Pro Kabaddi matches this season and was naturally quite a revelation. The focus, the skills and the commitment that he displayed were enough to help him cement a place in the starting seven.
Gujarat coach Manpreet Singh promised that Ranjit will be given more opportunities in the starting line-up henceforth and spoke highly about him.
“Ranjit has always been extremely skillful. But his weight was less which could have put him at a high risk of injuries. So, we did not use him all the time," he said.
"He was put on the mat in the Haryana leg and he delivered. That raised our confidence level about him and we gave him a chance today,” Singh added.
Commenting on his talent, Singh said, “He has good bounce, kick and turning -- skills which are required to be a great raider. He will be put more in the first seven from now on.”
Gujarat Fortunegiants ticked off all the boxes with their stupendous all-round performance and that left the coach delighted. Gujarat and Mumbai met for the second time in the Ranchi leg as their washed out Mumbai encounter was rescheduled for September 20.
Having played and beaten the former champions 39-28 just five days back, they came well-prepared and knew exactly what was required today. Singh admitted that it became easy to make a strategy which is why they were able to improve on their already impressive display in their last showdown.
He said, “The team showed great teamwork tonight. We have been practicing for 5-6 days in this leg. Facing the same team whom we already defeated recently, certainly helped to make a strategy"
So after defeating them by a 10-12 point margin, I am happy that we could do better. Two raiders got Super 10s and the corners and the covers too did their job well,” the coach stated.
Manpreet, however, pointed out that since they are now reaching the business end of the league phase, the biggest challenge now is to remain fit. “We cannot afford to have any injury to our top players with just one month left," he said, signing off on a cautious note.