Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Rahul Chaudhari delighted with team despite his poor form
Telugu Titans and Tamil Thalaivas played out a tactical battle in Thursday's Pro Kabaddi League encounter. Both sides started slow off the blocks but the Titans defenders were miserly and ensured they registered their third win of the season against a tepid Tamil outfit.
Unlike previous games, Telugu Titans produced an all-round performance with every single player chipping in with vital points. This despite the fact that their captain, Rahul Chaudhari found it difficult to cut open Thalaivas defence. Chaudhari was understandably delighted with his team's performance.
"We played extremely well, according to what we had planned. I had told Nilesh Salunke that even if I get tackled, don't get tensed. Unless the Thalaivas raiders don't give us an opportunity, I told them not to go for the tackle," he said.
The Titans looked a completely different side on Thursday. They played with a sense of self-assurance that was rarely visible in their previous outings. Rahul admitted that this was the first time his side played as a team, rather than individuals.
"Overall, in our previous matches our defence wasn't clicking. Now you're getting to see a team game from us. We're playing as one unit and that is why we were successful in our super tackles," he explained.
Titans defender, Sombir was the star of the night scoring a massive 10 tackle points. A feat that we've rarely come across since the inception of the league. Chaudhari revealed that tweaking the line up before every match wasn't ideal and he hopes to stick with the same starting 7 from now on.
"We were always working on our defence but previously we used to make our decisions very hastily and quickly. That is why our defence was not set before. But today we had decided that whatever mistakes happen, we will still play with the same players. The coach worked on us a lot," he opined.
Chaudhari singled out his defender, Sombir who was an absolute rock at the corner. He rarely put a foot wrong and gave Ajay Thakur and Prapanjan an extremely hard time every time they stepped up to raid.
"Previously when one of my players dived in for a tackle, the others didn't come to support him. But now we are defending as a unit. Sombir scored so many points today, most raiders cannot score that in a single match," he signed off.
The Titans will now play Puneri Paltan on 7th September in Kolkata.