Telugu Titans secured a close victory over Puneri Paltan in an Inter Zone Challenge Week clash at the Dome@NSCI SVP Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday. Telugu Titans were represented at the post-match press-conference by coach K Jag Mohan, Rahul Chaudhari and Nilesh Salunke. Taking questions for Puneri Paltan were captain Girish Maruti Ernak and coach Ashan Kumar.

Telugu Titans

Q: At one point of time, it looked like you would register a huge win but Puneri Paltan came back well. What do you have to say about the match?

K Jag Mohan: We were leading by around nine or ten points towards the end and didn’t want our defence to commit any mistakes, especially by conceding a Super Raid. We were fine conceding single points and stayed at that. Our raiders were getting us points so we were not worried about them.

Q: You conceded three Super Tackles. Do you see that as a concern?

Rahul Chaudhari: A raider usually plays with his luck on a Super Tackle and more often than not comes out on top. But sometimes the defender goes in for an advanced tackle and catches the raider off guard. That is where Puneri Paltan have been doing well all season. I was told that I can get points off them when they have three or fewer defenders on the mat. They won’t get a Super Tackle every time either. I just have to keep in mind where I committed the mistake that led to the Super Tackle and ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Q: How satisfied are you with Krushna Madane’s performance?

K Jag Mohan: I am fully satisfied with his game. He has played according to our strategy and done whatever we have told him to do. He ensured Puneri Paltan’s raiders didn’t attempt Bonus points and then helped himself to four tackle points.

Puneri Paltan

 

Q: Do you think you could have got your starting seven selection different?

Ashan Kumar: Looking back, it would have made a difference had we started Monu and More GB. Akshay Jadhav got injured and we lost one of our key players for a while. Our raiders couldn’t quite follow our strategies and we ended up conceding a lot of tackle points to Telugu Titans.

Q:  Are your raiders suffering without Nitin Tomar?

Ashan Kumar: Rajesh Mondal is supposed to be our second raider, but he hasn’t been able to perform as we would expect him to. We have given him chances to perform. So, yes I would say our backup raiding isn’t quite there yet.