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The Bengal Warriors had not lost their last seven Pro Kabaddi Season 5 matches. Their consistent performances had catapulted them to the top of the Zone B. They were also playing at their home ground at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata where the support was massive.
None of these could discourage the determined Haryana Steelers when they took on the Warriors in the second of the Inter Zone Challenge contest on Tuesday. Even when things became too close for comfort, the Steelers showed their nerves of steel to pull themselves through in a highly topsy-turvy affair which saw Haryana winning, 36-29.
They were confident about their ability to finish. That is what the Steelers coach Rambir Singh Khokhar revealed during the media interaction.
“We were 100% confident we shall win this before going to our home leg. We had prepared accordingly. Winning this was extremely important before going on to Sonepat,” he said.
Haryana saw their colossal lead of 14 points vanish as Bengal made a fabulous comeback in the second half. The hosts hit back hard through their dependable raider Maninder Singh, who ran wild and accumulated 14 points on the night.
The 31-17 advantage that they had soon became 32-28 with just four points separating the two teams. Mohit Chhillar ultimately ensured that Haryana still managed to remain in front that carried them to the win.
But it was certainly the Haryana raiding duo of Wazir Singh and Surjeet Singh, who did the bulk of the work. The two combined to bring their team a whopping 19 points that became the foundation of the Steelers’ second consecutive victory in the Kolkata leg.
The two were expectedly lauded by the coach especially because they took the reins of the attacking department in the absence of their star raider Vikas Kandola and delivered with aplomb.
“We used to be known more for our defence. But our raiders are definitely becoming better day by day. In the absence of Vikas, Wazir, Prashanth, and Surjeet have improved so much”, the happy coach confessed.
With a lot of belief and motivation, Haryana now head to their home ground in Sonepat, hoping to perform with the same gusto in front of their supporters. But it certainly won’t be easy with their first match being against the mighty defending champions Patna Pirates. The latter reduced the former champions Jaipur Pink Panthers to rubble thanks to the belligerent raids of their captain, Pardeep Narwal in the other match of the day.
When asked specifically about that particular encounter, the coach gave a smart and cheeky reply. “The home crowd will support us in Haryana even though Pardeep too is from Sonepat. If Surender Nada plays well, we can surely restrict Pardeep. We have already made plans for it.”
