Rahul Chaudhari: Bhardwaj and Salunke share credit for the win

Telugu Titans pulled off a thrilling 35-31 victory over Haryana Steelers on the back of six Super Tackles at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Vizag on Sunday. Representing the home side at the post-match press conference were captain Vishal Bhardwaj, assistant coach Sai Prasad, Rahul Chaudhari and Nilesh Salunke.

Telugu Titans

Q: Who would you credit for the win today?

Rahul Chaudhari: The defenders were absolutely brilliant today. The last tackle that Vishal Bhardwaj committed to and then Nilesh Salunke’s Super Raid to follow it up won us the game. We were giving away points in the last five minutes till Bhardwaj’s Super Tackle. I think we should credit both of them equally because at one stage it was looking like Haryana Steelers were coming back really well.

Q: What were you thinking when you went in for the last raid?

Nilesh Salunke: When I went in, I knew it was a Do-or-Die raid. I evaded their defenders once and I went back in again. I knew they would attempt a tackle because they needed that point. I was waiting for them to attack me so I could then try my best to go across the midline. Had I not tried, the game would have ended in a tie, so I had to go for it. We need to win all our games, so a tie wouldn’t have helped us. We will try our best to win all our games here on out as well.

Q: What do you have to say about the game?

Sai Prasad: We were excellent in both departments in the first half. Our defence didn’t quite work in the second half. Our players played in a systematic manner. They followed each and every strategy to the core. They acted as per the situation and went in to raid or tackle accordingly. A great example of this was the final raid of the day. If Nilesh Salunke hadn’t analysed the situation, the game would have ended in a tie.