Honnappa Gowda oozes confidence ahead of home leg

Honnappa C Gowda

22-39 to Patna Pirates, 22-27 and then 25-29 to U Mumba. That’s been the results from Dabang Delhi’s last 3 games, each time Coach Honnappa’s men have finished 2nd best on the mat after the stipulated 40 minutes.

As the team returned to the Thyagaraja Stadium here in the capital though, they seemed upbeat, almost oblivious to the aforementioned results. The gaffer too Honnappa C Gowda quickly played down the results, emphasizing, “Those matches aren’t indicative of how close we were and had we had our full squad available, it could have very well been a different story altogether”.

While the raiding led by Kashiling Adake and Rohit Chowdhury has been fairly consistent, the defence albeit Captain Cool-Ravinder Pahal has been disappointing to say the least. Upon being asked about the same, Honnappa added, “We have been trying out new combinations, hopefully, it will work out soon for us. Also we are expecting Surjeet to come in tomorrow, that shall boost our squad a lot.”

Needless to say, the star raider has been missed dearly and the Dabangs are going to benefit if he does indeed step on court against the Bengal Warriors.

Getting a win against the Warriors shall and can provide the team onus that they need in search of that elusive 4th place on the table.

How they cope with the pressure of playing at home will be most vital though and while no one’s doubting their capability, it sure would be one massive task to breach into the playoff spots.