"We played over-aggressive, there was a bit of panic" - Rakesh Kumar on Haryana Steelers' 19-point loss to Tamil Thalaivas
Haryana Steelers head coach Rakesh Kumar pinned his side's massive 19-point loss against the Tamil Thalaivas to his team playing an overly aggressive brand of kabaddi in the second half of Match 45 of Pro Kabaddi 2021.
The Steelers were completely outplayed in both departments by the Surjeet Singh-led side, who rode on a Super 10 from Manjeet and twin High 5s from right corner Sagar Rathee and their skipper to pick up their third win of PKL 8.
Responding to a query from Sportskeeda, the Steelers coach explained that a sense of panic in the second half proved to be his team's undoing.
"In the second half, I think they played over-aggressive. When your opposition team has a big lead, this tends to happen. There's a bit of panic that sets in the team. They (Thalaivas) played a little fast in the second half, we tried to match them."
Haryana Steelers reduced a 14-point lead to 6 points at half-time
A convincing victory for Tamil Thalaivas over Haryana Steelers, winning the game by 19 points 💥
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The Thalaivas got off to a blistering start in the first half, sprinting away to a 20-6 lead after the first 10 minutes. However, an inspired performance from Steelers' skipper Vikas Kandola, in addition to a couple of handy points from the defenders, reduced that deficit to just 5 points with two minutes to go in the first 20.
At half-time, Kandola's men were still well in the contest with only a 6-point gap to erase, but an early All Out in the Thalaivas' favour set the former back. From there, it was only one-way traffic, with the Steelers notching up only 8 points compared to Thalaivas' 21.
Rakesh further expressed his thoughts on how if the team had exhibited more patience, there could have been a chance of them putting up a better fight.
"If we had tried to play on the 2nd or 3rd raid, I feel the match would have been a lot closer, it could have led to a win or even a loss. There were mistakes made in this match, no doubt."
This was the Steelers' 4th loss from their 8 matches in this PKL 8 season, but they still have a lot to play for, given their mid-table spot in the Pro Kabaddi 2021 points table.
They next face off against an in-form UP Yoddha side, who will be on a high after registering the most tackle points for a team (22) in a Pro Kabaddi match against the Bengaluru Bulls.