U Mumba and Patna Pirates delivered a VIVO Pro Kabaddi classic in the Inter-Zone Challenge Week, with the visitors edging out Patna Pirates by a scoreline of 40-39 at the Patliputra Indoor Stadium in Patna. In the post-match press conference, U Mumba were represented by captain Fazel Atrachali and coach Gholamreza Mahmoud Mazandarani while coach Ram Mehar Singh and captain Pardeep Narwal took questions for Patna Pirates.

U Mumba

Q: Any thoughts on the match?

Fazel Atrachali: I loved the match today. We played really well and we won and that is all that matters. 

Q: Anything about Siddharth Desai? 

Fazel Atrachali: I think he is young and needs more time. When he plays with a free mind he is a very good player. He will get better with time. 

Q: What will be your strategy in the next match? 

Fazel Atrachali: We will think about it tomorrow. We were only focused on Patna Pirates before this game and were not thinking about Puneri Paltan. We are all professionals. We need to change a few things in our defence. It is a different game against Puneri Paltan and we will try to do well. 

Patna Pirates

Q: What happened in the last three minutes?

Ram Mehar Singh: The defence could have done better. We gave away a bonus to Siddharth Desai or else we were in the game. We needed to tackle him before he got the bonus. Pardeep Narwal kept the points coming and we even caught Siddharth Desai in the last five minutes. It was a thriller.

Q: Did you think Patna Pirates were winning when Vikas Jaglan got you three points?

Pardeep Narwal: He did well but then our players made a couple of mistakes. I was on the bench in the last couple of minutes which worked their favor. The raiding was fine in the match but we weren’t up to the mark in defence.

Q: Any changes for the next game?

Ram Mehar Singh: We will tighten our defense.