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Tuesday's first Pro Kabaddi League encounter was essentially a dead rubber. Perched at the bottom of Zone B, Tamil Thalaivas locked horns with U Mumba whose hopes of a possible playoff spot were killed by some controversial refereeing decisions when they played Jaipur Pink Panthers.
U Mumba coach, Bhaskaran, decided to field a host of new faces for this game. It meant captain Anup Kumar could rest easy as he watched his side from the VIP stands. He would have been disappointed by what he saw as U Mumba crumbled in the final seconds of the game.
After 20 rounds of games, the players are now truly feeling the wear and tear. The likes of Kashiling and Anup couldn't even make it to the bench for tonight's game and U Mumba's coach Bhaskaran revealed that numerous players from his side are battling injuries.
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He also wasn't too happy with how his players performed in the final seconds of the match. They lost the game from a winning position and should have at least secured a draw. But it wasn't to be as U Mumba's defence became a tad too excited in the final moments.
"In the last raid, we were equal, we should have waited. But we went for an advanced tackle and lost two points. We tried our best and played better than expected. We did not lose because our fitness levels were low. Many of our players like Kashi have suffered injuries," he explained.
Tamil Thaliavas captain, Ajay Thakur too revealed that numerous players from his side have been at the receiving end of some hard-hitting tackles and as a result have had to sit out of a number of matches.
"Many of our players who were part of the first 7 suffered from so many injuries that they have not been able to play. They are not even part of the first 12," he revealed.
Thalaivas coach, K Bhaskaran was extremely happy with Ajay's performance. Once again, Tamil's star raider managed a super 10 and ended the night with a massive 15 raid points to his name.
Thakur is currently the second-best raider of season 5 with only Pardeep Narwal ahead of him. It speaks volumes about his character and his drive to succeed, no matter what.
"In the last five games, Ajay Thakur has learned how to deal and play under pressure situations. His strategies are finally paying off," he stated.
