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Puneri Paltan has lost all the four games they have played in this season’s Star Sports Pro Kabaddi. Despite having led in two of those games at half time, Puneri Paltan has found it difficult to hold onto or build on the advantage.
With the likes of Wazir Singh, Pravin Newale and Mahipal Narwal raiding the opponent territory, raid points haven’t been a problem for the men from Pune with Puneri Paltan having a successful raid percent second only to Telugu Titans in the league.
The problem for the Paltan has been the defence. Puneri Paltan has the lowest tackle percent in the league apart from having the lowest successful tackles per game, which is a lowly figure of 5 as compared to 9.8 of the Telugu Titans.
These glaring statistics have been a concern in the Puneri Paltan camp and it’s something that they feel is the obstacle between them and a run of victories.
“We are a quality side”
Speaking to Sportskeeda ahead of Puneri Paltan’s game against the Bengal Warriors today, veteran raider Pravin Newale called for a considerable improvement in his side’s defensive play.
“Our defence is not settled. We have got leads in games, but we haven’t been able to maintain them and that is because we are not winning enough defence points,” said Puneri Paltan’s local hero.
Having played for his state, Maharashtra, and represented India in the South Asian Championships, Pravin has truckloads of experience in the game and that tells him his side need to get around 8-10 defence points to win games consistently.
“We are just getting 4-5 points while defending, which is nowhere near good enough. We need to get somewhere around 8-10 points every game and I’m sure we will win games consistently,” said the 32-year-old raider.
Pravin, though, has complete faith in his team’s quality and feels his team can do wonders if they get their defensive play right. “We have been playing well. If we do well in defence we can win a lot of games. The results aren’t reflecting it, but we are a quality side and have the capacity to win consistently”, the former Indian raider claimed.
Pravin has played his part really well as he has coupled with Wazir Singh to form a formidable raid partnership with his captain. The man from Pune though is confident his side will soon show their true colors and surprise everyone.
