U Mumba treated their home fans to a dominating display on the opening night of the Mumbai leg as they saw off Jaipur Pink Panthers by a comfortable scoreline of 48-24. In the post-match press conference, coach Gholamreza Mahmoud Mazandarani, captain Fazel Atrachali and raider Abhishek Singh took questions for U Mumba whereas Jaipur Pink Panthers were represented by coach Srinivas Reddy and captain Anup Kumar.

U Mumba

Q. Complete domination today. Thoughts on the team’s display?

Fazel Atrachali: It was a really good match for us. But every match is different. Tomorrow, we have another game against a good side. So, we’ll focus on that.

Q. Did you feel any pressure replacing Siddharth Desai in the lineup?

Abhishek Singh: No, I didn’t feel any pressure. I had to perform as per the situation’s demand. The captain is always telling me what to do. So that helps.

Q. Tomorrow you’ll be up against your former team. How do you see that challenge?

Fazel Atrachali: Gujarat Fortunegiants are a very good team. They have a formidable defence. But U Mumba are also a very good team. It will be a good match and I’m looking forward to it.

Q. Every team has struggled in their home leg. Do you feel any pressure?

Fazel Atrachali: Pressure? I think we are more relaxed here, in front of our home fans.

Jaipur Pink Panthers

Q. Your first match as a visiting player in Mumbai. How are you feeling?

Anup Kumar: I tried to focus on the game and there was good support for Jaipur Pink Panthers today as well.

Q. You were chasing the game right from the start. What went wrong?

Srinivas Reddy: In the opening exchanges, they were brilliant. We could’ve come away with some points but their defence held our raiders back with some great tackling. We, on the contrary, made some ill-timed tackles and that really swung the momentum in their favour very early on. It was difficult from there on.

Q. Thoughts on the overall performance?

Anup Kumar: We could all do better. We need to. In order to go deep into the season, we have to improve in every aspect of our game. We’ll have a meeting, regroup and try to play better in our next match.