Krishan Kumar Hooda: Naveen can learn from this experience

A brilliant Ankle Hold from Amit Sheoran in the buzzer raid helped Bengaluru Bulls secure a 39-39 tie against league-leaders Dabang Delhi K.C. at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday. At the post-match press conference, coach Krishan Kumar Hooda, captain Joginder Singh Narwal and raider Naveen Kumar took questions for Dabang Delhi K.C., while stand-in skipper 'Hi-Flyer' Pawan Kumar Sehrawat represented Bengaluru Bulls.

Dabang Delhi K.C.

Q. What happened in the last raid?

Krishan Kumar Hooda: The plan was to treat the baulk line as the bonus line. But a slight error in judgement cost us two points. However, these things happen. It’s all a part and parcel of this sport. We played brilliantly for 40 minutes. Naveen was outstanding and he can learn from this experience. I can say I'm satisfied with the performance.

Q. Will we see any rotation in the upcoming games?

Krishan Kumar Hooda: Since we are at the top, we will continue playing our strongest seven. We will eventually give chances to some of the other players that we have but we want to ensure that we finish top of the pile.

Q. Turning point of the game?

Krishan Kumar Hooda: There were a lot of moments where the tide turned in their favour first before swinging back in ours. So, I can’t pick one specific moment and call it the turning point of the match.

Q. Joginder, at one point, your team had a 10-point lead. What happened?

Joginder Singh Narwal: They are a brilliant team with a roster full of top-class players and they showed their class after that second All-Out. I cannot say that we made errors and that let them come back in the contest. They raided well and defended astutely during that period to level the score.

Bengaluru Bulls

Q. Despite trailing by 11, you were able to fight back and tie the game. Thoughts?

Pawan Kumar Sehrawat: I'm happy with the way we fought back but am not entirely satisfied with the result. We could have won the match. When I got tackled with just three or some minutes left in the game, we were leading and could have sealed the game had I just returned with a solitary point. But I tried to get multiple and ended up getting tackled which allowed them to score a couple more. But with that being said, I'm pleased by how we never gave in.

Q. Thoughts on the upcoming match against U Mumba?

Pawan Kumar Sehrawat: An outstanding defensive team. They have some brilliant defenders in their team. Fazel (Atrachali), Sandeep Narwal, Surinder (Singh) are all playmakers in defence. They are very robust in their tackling. In attack too, they have Abhishek Singh, who has been in good form recently. Rohit Baliyan is an experienced campaigner. Athul MS can produce moments of magic. So, they are a team full of quality and we will have to play well to beat them.

Q. Thoughts on your playoff hopes?

Pawan Kumar Sehrawat: We lost a few games and that has seen us drop a few places on the table. So, we are in a little spot of bother, but we are confident we can do well in our remaining matches and qualify for the playoffs. The match against U Mumba will be a tough one and I'm looking forward to that challenge.