Krishan Kumar Hooda: We won’t let the fans down this season

Twenty-seven points from raiding their trio of Meraj Sheykh, Chandran Ranjit and Naveen Kumar handed Dabang Delhi K.C. an impressive 40-29 victory over Jaipur Pink Panthers at the Dome@NSCI SVP Stadium in Mumbai. In the post-match press conference, coach Krishan Kumar Hooda and captain Joginder Narwal took questions for Dabang Delhi K.C., whereas Jaipur Pink Panthers were represented by coach Srinivas Reddy and captain Anup Kumar.

Dabang Delhi K.C.

Q. Good comeback midway through the game. What changed in the match?

Joginder Narwal: The coach told us not to panic and keep a cool head. In the past, we showed signs of panic after giving up three or four points, but the coach told us not to worry and play our natural game. We knew we have the talent in offence and defence to overturn any deficit.

Q. Do you think this was the perfect performance from your raiding unit?

Krishan Kumar Hooda: Not only our raiding but our defence was excellent as well. It was the two Super Tackles that brought us back in the game. I told the team in the past few days that we are capable of performing at a high level. We are an excellent team. To the fans of Dabang Delhi K.C., I promise that this time we won’t let you down. We’ll give everything we have in our upcoming games to bring joy to the fans.

Q. Thoughts on your first High 5 today?

Joginder Narwal: I’m not concerned about getting High 5s. All I care about is my team’s victory. I could have zero tackle points but the only thing that matters is the team’s win. The coach was always in our ears, telling us how to play and how to approach the situation. Overall, it was a brilliant all-round game for us. I’m pleased with that.

Jaipur Pink Panthers

 

Q. You started well and tailed off. What happened?

Srinivas Reddy: The raiding was all right, but we gave away multiple points in single raids to the opposition and that in turn put a lot of pressure on our raiders to get multiple points. The back-to-back Super Tackles swung the momentum back in their favour. Had we inflicted an All-Out there, we could have dictated the game.

Q. What particularly went wrong in your opinion as captain?

Anup Kumar: As a defensive unit, we could have played better. Deepak Hooda scored a lot of points for us today, but we couldn’t support him in defence.

Q. With almost half of your games done, how do you view the rest of the season?

Anup Kumar: Almost every game now is a must-win for us. It is essential for us to try and win every game. With every team being as well-coordinated as they are, it is a difficult proposition for us. But we’ll fight till the very end.