How an astute Honnappa C Gowda turned the Patna game around for Dabang Delhi

From l-r: Kashiling Adake, Honnappa C Gowda and Rohit Kumar Chaudhary

On a three-match winless streak, hosts Dabang Delhi had to come with something special if they wanted to beat the Pirates from Patna yesterday and rejuvenate their surge towards one of the 4 play-off places. And they did precisely that.

After what seemed like a calm couple of minutes to start off proceedings, Honnappa C Gowda’s troops took the game to their opponents and soon had them all out twice. Talking about what ensued, the gaffer gushed, “I realized what they were trying to do; they wouldn’t wait till the third raid to go all out. Instead, they were treating the second as do or die. Hence, I called the time-out that early (after just 5 minutes). Our boys immediately took notice and before we knew, they were all out.”

Upon asked what precisely he changed from the night before, he added, “We decided to get in some new boys and that worked. Ravinder (Pahal) was really well assisted by (GS) Manikanta and Sandeep amongst others and that helped our cause immensely. Also I asked Kashi to keep his cool, he is like a kid who is vulnerable on court, so it was important for me to tell him how important it was for him to stay focused and lead the team. Thankfully he did and the results are for everyone to see.”

Coach Honnappa’s team, it must be remembered have managed to register multiple wins on the trot only once in the tourney before; if they are to have any chance of moving up the pecking order, they will have to match that feat against the Jaipur Pink Panthers tonight.