Ram Mehar Singh: Pardeep can change the game on his own

A humdinger of a raiding battle saw Patna Pirates and Telugu Titans share the spoils after a 42-42 tie at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge, Balewadi in Pune on Friday. At the post-match press conference, coach Gholamreza Mazandarani, assistant coach Jagdish Kumble, captain Abozar Mohajermighani and raider Rajnish took questions for Telugu Titans. Coach Ram Mehar Singh and captain Pardeep Narwal represented Patna Pirates.

Telugu Titans

Q. Did Pardeep Narwal take the game away from you?

Gholamreza Mazandarani: We played well but made a few errors in defence. When you give away four points, three points and then two points a few times in a game, it’s extremely difficult to win. We should have won the match.

Q. How do you rate your playoffs chances?

Gholamreza Mazandarani: We have to take it game-by-game. We have improved substantially over the course of the season, so we will try and win all our remaining matches and see what happens.

Q. Thoughts on Rajnish’s performance?

Jagdish Kumble: We knew they would prepare for Siddharth Desai. So Rajnish could prove to be a game-changer. And while he has done well in the opportunities he has gotten this season, he really upped his game today and delivered a quality performance.

Q. How do you analyse the second half?

Jagdish Kumble: We made too many errors in defence in the second half and a raider like Pardeep Narwal doesn’t need a second invitation to exploit any weakness that a team shows. We ended up giving two points to Jang Kun Lee as well when we could have played it safe or tackled him and taken control of the game.

Patna Pirates

Q. Thoughts on the game?

Ram Mehar Singh: Slightly disappointing result. The defence didn’t play as well as they could have. We gave away too many points to their second and third choice raiders. And even at the end, we leaked one too many against Siddharth Desai. Even Lee contributed some points, but the defence gave away too many points.

Q. Thoughts on Pardeep Narwal’s three Super Raids?

Ram Mehar Singh: Pardeep can change the game on his own. He has proved it time and again and he did it today as well. His Super Raid kept cutting the deficit and getting us close to an All Out, but the defence couldn’t hold firm and that cost us a win today.

Q. How do you rate your chances to qualify for the playoffs?

Ram Mehar Singh: We have to win all our remaining games if we want to qualify for the playoffs. And we will give it our all in the upcoming matches.

Q. Are you happy with the tie, Pardeep?

Pardeep Narwal: Not really. This felt like two points lost more than three points gained. I felt we had done enough to win the game, but the defence couldn’t finish the job.