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On Friday, Tamil Thalaivas almost produced one of the best comebacks in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League.
Trailing 25-10 in the first half, they reduced the deficit to a mere one point but unfortunately for them, time ran out and so did their hopes of a historic win. Post the game, captain, Ajay Thakur admitted to Sportskeeda that he let the team down.
“I made some big mistakes. If the captain of the side gets tackled so often, it becomes a big problem for the team. I got out to two super tackles. Once there were three defenders and once just two. I am disappointed that I took the team down,” he said.
Ajay and defender, Amit Hooda form the core of this Tamil side. But Thakur reckons that Hooda’s overzealous advanced tackles were the reason why they lost the match, having come so close to the finish line.
“I admit me and Amit Hooda made some mistakes. Amit made some advanced tackles in the final minutes of the match, I think that’s why we lost the game,” he stated.
While the dependable players in this Thalaivas outfit did not deliver, Ajay was extremely happy with the performance of the young players in his side. He reserved special praise for two up and coming players.
“My young players performed really well. Bengaluru had a huge lead but we still managed to cover it. I think our defenders specifically played really well. Pradap and Prapanjan played really well too.
Emotions got the better of the usually calm Thakur. In the second half, he was at the receiving end of yet another super tackle and didn’t like the way Bengaluru’s players took him down. But the captain shrugged aside suggestions that he was annoyed with the referee.
“I thought the defender caught hold of my jersey so I told the referee. I wasn’t disappointed at all, I was just informing the referee,” he said.
Asked if he truly believed a comeback was on the cards, Thakur reckoned he always knew his team could claw their way back into the game, especially looking at how his young players began to persistently inflict damage on the Bulls in the second half.
“Definitely, after half time, the way we were continuously scoring points, I had a feeling we could win the game. But we made some mistakes in the end,” he signed off.
