E Bhaskaran: Our defence and offence both got us points at regular intervals

Tamil Thalaivas recorded their first ever victory over Telugu Titans in VIVO Pro Kabaddi at The Arena by TransStadia in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Representing Tamil Thalaivas at the post-match press conference were captain Ajay Thakur, coach E Bhaskaran and Sukesh Hegde. Returning questions for Telugu Titans were coach K Jag Mohan and Rahul Chaudhari.

Tamil Thalaivas

Q: What did you do differently for this match?

E Bhaskaran: Our strategies for all our games are different. The way we started this match and the fact that we didn’t let our lead reduce were positives for us through the match. Our defence and offence both got us points at regular intervals. Ajay Thakur’s Super Raid increased the morale of the team and that was the moment we won the match, I think.

Q: Do you tell your players how they are supposed to take on a particular opponent?

E Bhaskaran: This was our second match this season against Telugu Titans. In the first game, Abozar Mohajermighani scored well despite us controlling the game for most parts. This time we focused more on that since Mohajermighani is a strong defender. We cannot afford to take him lightly. I had told my raiders to avoid him and play. We may score fewer points that way, but we ensure that we don’t lose our players. That was successful to an extent.

Q: What was your strategy for this match?

Ajay Thakur: The plan was to get as many points as possible on the first raids, be it a bonus or a touch point. We are six or seven quality raiders in the team and our job is to get the team points. Telugu Titans have some brilliant defenders, so we tried getting more bonus points. The plan was to survive against them and get them out. Our defenders didn’t go in for advanced tackles either, so we didn’t give away unnecessary points either.

Telugu Titans

Q: What were the reasons for your loss today?

K Jag Mohan: Our defence didn’t perform well today. We conceded two points in their very first raid. We struggled in the cover position and got the substitution wrong as well. As soon as he entered, Tamil Thalaivas got a touch on him and sent him out. They played on their defence, so our raiders had problems as well. They couldn’t score points when we required them to.  

Q: Did you have any plans to reduce the deficit in the second half?

K Jag Mohan: We could have done it if our raiders were at their best. They didn’t have their best day in office. Both teams were playing on the third raid and our defence should have restricted their raiders there. We were down by five points and should have tried harder to reduce the deficit.

Q: What are the positives from this match?

K Jag Mohan: Not many positives for us today. Anil Kumar our Left Cover has done well. We had to substitute him since he picked up a niggle. Abozar Mohajermighani got two diving tackle points as well. They would have been turning points had our raiders performed better. Mohsen Maghsoudloujafari got us points in the defence as well.