Maninder Singh lavishes praise on teammate Mohammad Nabibakhsh

Bengal Warriors got their VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 7 campaign off to a positive start with a 48-17 win over U.P. Yoddha at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Debutant Mohammad Nabibakhsh registered a Super 10 for Bengal Warriors, while Baldev Singh picked up a High 5 for his defensive efforts. Coach BC Ramesh and captain Maninder Singh attended the post-match press conference for Bengal Warriors, while coach Jasveer Singh and captain Nitesh Kumar were present from the U.P. Yoddha camp.

Bengal Warriors

Q. Your team was trailing 4-0 at the start of the match but turned it around from there. Your thoughts on the game?

BC Ramesh: At the beginning our raids weren’t coming off because it is our first match. But once our raiders started performing, the rest of the players also started playing well and we managed to get a good victory.

Q. Maninder, what are your thoughts on Mohammad Nabibakhsh’s debut?

Maninder: He is a very smart player. If you notice, he didn’t raid much but raided at the correct times. He has very good skills, be it the right side or left. He is a very good raider and hopefully he will perform well for us this season.

Q. How are you approaching this season with your new team?

BC Ramesh: Last year I was Bengaluru Bulls’ coach but in Season 2 I coached Bengal Warriors, so this is not new for me. The auction was very important and we planned for it in a lot of detail. Who to take and who not to take was very important. I was very happy that everything worked out like I had planned and that I got the players I wanted. The boys have been playing well and with a lot of heart so I think we can all expect a good season this year.

U.P. Yoddha

Q. Coach, not the ideal start to a season. What went wrong?

Jasveer Singh: What went wrong is that our defence never managed to get set. We started with a few tackles in the beginning but our defence was never settled today, which is why we lost the match.

Q. What was the reason behind Rishank Devadiga’s absence from the team today?

Jasveer Singh: We rested him for today’s game, but he should be available for our next match.

Q. You started the match well and even had a lead at one stage. What went wrong from there?

Jasveer Singh: We made mistakes while raiding and defending. The other team did well in those two department and we didn’t, so that’s what went wrong.