Haryana Steelers coach Rakesh Kumar has hailed the vital of experience, a senior player like the Dharmaraj following the team’s maiden win in the Pro Kabaddi League 2019 against the Pune Paltan.
“He (Dharmaraj Cheralthan) is a leader on the mat, and he ensured we stayed in control of proceedings. We have a lot of young blood in the team, and they are excited and make some advanced tackles. So, an experienced, senior figure like Cheralathan is significant to keep the nerves in check on the mat,” said Kumar as quoted by the Pro Kabaddi League.
An excellent performance by the raider Naveen helped the Haryana emerge victorious by a margin of around 10 points in a 34-24 win against the Paltan in a clash held at the Hyderabad stadium.
“Our plan was to let all three of our raiders, Selvamani K, Naveen and Vinay have a go and then decide who gets to raid the most. Naveen looked in great touch, so we let him do the bulk of it. We told him to focus on his footwork and work their flanks rather than the inside. We knew they would try some advanced tackles and that’s exactly what happened,” he added.
Anup Kumar, the coach of a Puneri Paltan, additionally admitted that there was a need for the improvements in defense as well as attack.
“We can improve in defense as well in offense. This was the first game of the season, and we made some mistakes. We’ll definitely look to rectify them in the upcoming matches,” said the Paltan coach.
Anup Kumar also revealed that his first experience as a coach as a surreal, with which the Puneri Paltan would have to play much better to defeat Mumba in their coming clash of the tournament.
