Pro Kabaddi league 2017 Season 5: Tamil Thalaivas captain Ajay Thakur offers inadequate explanation about his failed final raid

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Ajay Thakur (yellow) in action against Delhi

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Captain Meraj Sheykh was in fine form as Dabang Delhi registered a thrilling 30-29 victory over the Tamil Thalaivas, who only have themselves to blame after surrendering their lead in the final seconds of the match.

The southern outfit were well on their way to secure a vital win but like in their previous outings, exuberance got the better of them as their players needlessly dived in pursuit of advance tackles.

Post the game, Ajay Thakur attempted to put things into perspective. He refused to accept that his team became over confident because of their lead.

"No nothing like that, in the last minute, I did not expect my team would commit such a mistake. If we wouldn't have tried to tackle Meraj, it wouldn't have been right. We tried but were not successful. The situation was such that we did not have enough time to cover their lead," he explained. 

Despite Meraj Sheykh's super raid, the Thalaivas still had time to attempt one last raid and level the scores. However, Ajay Thakur failed to score a bonus after a successful touch on Delhi's defender.

The captain explained why he couldn't get the crucial second point. His explanation though wasn't satisfactory, considering the fact that Ajay had nothing to lose and should have gone in to secure the second point, since his team were anyways trailing.

"If you try and avoid a raider, it's natural that he will touch you and leave. It's always necessary to play but with a plan. If I had tried for a bonus, I could have tried for another point. But I had already touched a player so if I went in again, they would have definitely caught me," he stated. 

Thalaivas coach, Bhaskaran cut a disappointing figure and rued the fact that his players weren't able to keep their cool in the dying seconds of the match.

"We shouldn't have lost three points in the final minute. Our strategy was to concede one point if necessary but we made a mistake so easily. Yes, it was a blunder, I felt very bad because the match was in our hands," he said.

The coach revealed that he had sent across a strong message to his players, with regard to defending in the penultimate raid, however his instructions fell on deaf ears and his players needlessly dived in on Meraj Sheykh, who made merry of the situation.

"I knew their strategy would be to try and get a single point in the final minute. I had told my players, if anybody goes in to tackle, only one of you should go. Nobody needs to support him," the coach signed off.

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