Patna Pirates head coach Randeep Dalal reflected on their close victory over Bengal Warriorz in Pro Kabaddi 2025. They defeated the Warriorz 51-49 on Friday, October 17.
With two consecutive wins, the Pirates moved to the eleventh position. As they have three games remaining, they are alive in the playoffs race. Ayan Lohchab once again lit up the stage with a terrific performance. He picked up 27 raid points.
The Patna Pirates head coach stated that his message to the team was clear. He also reflected on their next game against Puneri Paltan.
"The only message was that every game is do-or-die as we were at the bottom. It is not like we have any option left. I just told them to play freely and play to win. Ayan has probably made the best score of the tournament so far. We had told the defense to play freely too. Puneri Paltan is a strong team. But in this league all teams are good, anybody can beat anyone. We had beaten them previously," he said during the post-match press conference.
Patna Pirates skipper Ankit also reflected on Ayan's performance. He expressed having a lot of expectations from the lead raider. Ankit added that the team depended on Ayan in the raiding department.
"Ayan is our lead raider and we have a lot of expectations from him. He tells the entire defense to just focus on getting tackle points and that we will score the raid points. So the whole team is dependent on him in the raiding department," he stated.
Ayan has been in stellar form this season. He has notched up 196 raid points from 15 matches at an average of 13.06. Ayan has picked up 10 Super 10s. He is second on the raiders' leaderboard as well.
Bengal Warriorz head coach on defeat against Patna Pirates
Despite the defeat against the Patna Pirates, Bengal Warriorz put up a good fight. Their head coach, Naveen Kumar, reflected on how mistakes at the end cost them the game. He also added that the only way forward for them is to win every game.
"In the end when we had four defenders left, we made a mistake and lost the game from there. The defenders also did well today actually. But yes towards the end we gave away multiple points. We are out of danger really. At this stage, every game is do-or-die no matter who we play. We could have won today and played well too. We will prepare better for the next game," he said.
The Warriorz are at the bottom of the table. They have 10 points from 15 matches with three games remaining. Their next three opponents are Jaipur Pink Panthers, Tamil Thalaivas, and Bengaluru Bulls.