Krishan Kumar Hooda: Youngsters on the bench will get a chance

Naveen Kumar’s record-extending 14^th Super 10 helped Dabang Delhi K.C. see off Telugu Titans by a scoreline of 37-29 at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge, Balewadi in Pune on Monday. At the post-match press conference, coach Krishan Kumar Hooda took questions for Dabang Delhi K.C., while Telugu Titans were represented by coach Gholamreza Mazandarani and assistant coach Jagdish Kumble.

Dabang Delhi K.C.

Q. One more win, and another Naveen Kumar Super 10, how would you look back at the match?

Krishan Kumar Hooda: There are 40 minutes in the match, some phases are played slowly and some fast. If the start doesn’t go too well, then we work harder. The team played well today, both the offence and defence. Whenever they were needed, they stepped up. I am happy with this performance, even more than the previous match. 

Q. Naveen gets a Super 10 in every match. Would it be a problem if he doesn’t score?

Krishan Kumar Hooda: Why won’t he fire? My feeling is that he will get 20 raid points in a match. He will click, I am confident. Not overconfident, of course. If he doesn’t work out, another raider will step up. Our second line is strong. But Naveen is a super raider, he will deliver.

Q. Would you dip into the bench strength for the remaining matches?

Krishan Kumar Hooda: I won’t delve much into it at the moment. Because it’s our strategy. It’s our plan. But one thing is certain that the youngsters sitting on the bench will get a chance. I will try. 

Telugu Titans

Q. It was a good performance fromSiddharth Desai but the team was not able to support him. Thoughts?

Gholamreza Mazandarani: Siddharth was good but he made some mistakes as well. Right now our team isn't doing too well but Dabang Delhi K.C. are a top team so the match was expected to be close. We played badly in defence I think. Our raiders weren't too bad but our defence wasn't up to the mark.

Q. You have most of your remaining matches to qualify now. How do you see it unfold?

Gholamreza Mazandarani: Everyone knows the competition is very tough now. Right now there are 4-5 teams in the same position as us. It's not an easy thing. It's hard for every team. But we will try. We will see how it goes in the future.

Q. Do you think there is a need for improvement among the Cover defenders?

Jagdish Kumble: That is true. You could see that in the match. Usually Farhad Milaghardan plays in the Cover. But we felt he can do well in raiding because of which we changed our Cover combination. We will analyse our gameplay from the previous 2-3 matches after this and then take a call if we want to go with the same defence or give a chance to come of our bench players.