Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Pardeep Narwal can't sleep if he doesn't score a Super 10, says Patna Pirates coach
Post their draw against the Bengal Warriors, the Patna Pirates dug deep and pulled out a hard fought victory over the Tamil Thalaivas in Saturday's Pro Kabaddi League encounter.
Unlike in the previous matches, Patna weren't completely reliant on their star man, Pardeep Narwal as fellow raider, Monu Goyat sprung to life with an impressive Super 10 of his own. Goyat managed to score a monster five-point raid in the second half which sealed the deal.
Defender, Jaideep scored a high five as well.
Narwal was kept relatively silent but he did manage to execute a couple of morale damaging Dubkis which helped Patna immensely. Pardeep finished the night with six points against the Thalivas but Patna coach, Ram Mehar Singh was extremely annoyed with his star raider's performance as he felt Pardeep could have scored a lot more.
"I am obviously happy that we won but I am not happy with Pardeep's performance. Because if he does not score a Super 10, Pardeep cannot sleep. He always wants to score but he didn't play his original game today," he said.
However, a point to rejoice for him was Patna's defence which performed at an optimum level - something that they haven't been doing in recent times. After building their championship season based on impressive performances from the backline, this season, as a side, the Pirates have made all the noise for their attacking prowess. Rarely have we seen their defence shine, like they did tonight.
"Our defence did well tonight plus our other raiders performed. So I am motivated because the foundation of any team is the defence. When our defenders perform well, it's a great sign because in the last couple of matches, our defence hasn't been up to the mark," the coach explained.
Thalaiva's main raiders, Ajay Thakur and Prapanjan were kept quiet for large parts of the match. The later managed to score just a single point and Patna defender, Vishal Mane was thrilled that his side managed to keep the deadly duo in check.
"We knew that only Ajay and Prapanjan would attack from their side. We knew that if we keep them out of the mat for a large amount of time, it will benefit us and that's why we succeeded," he said.
Patna's coach revealed that in the absence of Pardeep, who had to spend a lot of time on the bench, it is Vishal Mane's responsibility to captain the side.
"Without Pardeep, Vishal controls the team. I had given him full responsibility with regard to making decisions on the mat, who to send to raid. He did his job very well and I thank Vishal for working for the betterment of the team," the coach signed off.