U Mumba & Haryana Steelers play out high-octane tie in PKL Season 10
U Mumba and Haryana Steelers played out a highly entertaining high octane 44-44 tie in the final game of PKL Season 10’s leg at the DOME by NSCI on Wednesday. While Jaideep Dahiya’s brilliant defending earned him 8 tackle points, the real star of the game was Amirmohammad Zafardanesh, who almost single-handedly got his side a deserved tie with 14 raid points. The Haryana Steelers kicked off at a blistering pace and had, within minutes, reduced the U Mumba numbers on the mat. It wasn’t just via raiding though, as Jaideep Dahiya in defence was imperious, logging an impressive 4 raid points in the first half itself — over half of the Haryana Steelers’ total for the period. They inflicted the first ALL OUT of the game in the seventh minute to take a 11-6 lead and things looked bleak for the home side. In the next quarter of the game though U Mumba’s team rallied together, Amirmohammad Zafardanesh’s ability to constantly pick up bonus points, and Siddharth Desai’s SUPER RAID at the end of the half drawing them to within three to end the half. Despite having only three players on the mat at the beginning of the second half, the Haryana Steelers, courtesy of a SUPER TACKLE and some brilliant raiding, streaked into a 9 point lead within two minutes. The see-saw nature of the encounter ensured that they wouldn’t have the last say, as U Mumba slowly edged their way back. It took them nine minutes of the half, but eventually they inflicted an ALL OUT to erase that nine point deficit to draw level at 30 apiece. The momentum swung the other way almost immediately as the Haryana Steelers defence held together and created a second ALL OUT to take a five point lead. U Mumba inflicted a second ALL OUT to draw level at 44 apiece, with 40 seconds left. Neither team could break the deadlock in the dying seconds as they took a deserved point apiece. The Sportz Planet Desk
‘The pair of Jaideep and Mohit is the backbone of the Haryana Steelers,’ says Head Coach Manpreet Singh
The Haryana Steelers bounced back into form with a 41-35 victory over Bengal Warriors in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 on Sunday. Speaking about the match Haryana Steelers’ Head Coach Manpreet Singh said, “The pair of Jaideep and Mohit is the backbone of the Haryana Steelers. Mohit was very confident that he could take on Maninder since he has got him out many times. It feels really good to see a player showcase high confidence. I wouldn’t have minded even if we lost against Bengal Warriors because the players gave their best on the mat.” The Steelers triumphed in the game, but Warriors’ Shrikant Jadhav scored a Super 10 in the game. When asked if the team could’ve performed better against Jadhav, the Head Coach said, “The defence unit couldn’t coordinate well while tackling Shrikant Jadhav, however, we also pulled off Super Tackles against him. We could’ve certainly defended better against him, but the players will make mistakes in every game.” Manpreet Singh also spoke about Chandran Ranjit’s performance in the game. The raider scored 7 raid points in the match. He said, “Ranjit isn’t completely fit at the moment. I substituted him when I noticed that he started to lose energy on the mat. However, he gave his 100 percent on every raid. He’ll regain full fitness in the upcoming matches.” The Haryana Steelers will be taking on U Mumba in their next match on 10 January 2023 in Mumbai. When asked about taking on the home side, Manpreet Singh said, “I have grown up in Mumbai and therefore my team gets a lot of love here. The fans in Mumbai will not only come to support U Mumba. They come to the stadium to support kabaddi. U Mumba has a great team balance and it’ll be difficult to defeat them.” The Haryana Steelers are currently in the sixth position on the points table with 6 wins from 10 matches. The Sportz Planet Desk
