Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Rishank Devadiga’s injury proved costly, says UP captain Nitin Tomar

The second match at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata on Saturday turned out to be a low-scoring one with both the hosts Bengal Warriors and the UP Yoddha playing on their defensive strength. It finished with a 26-26 tie that somewhat left the Lucknow team with a lot to regret.

They were after all leading 14-11 heading into the half-time but failed to capitalise on their momentum in the second half.

Skipper Nitin Tomar attributed it to losing their star raider Rishank Devadiga, who suffered a head injury and had to be substituted.

The ex-U Mumba man has been a vital cog in the raiding department for the northern franchise and is currently placed sixth in the Season 5 Raiders Leaderboard. With his exit, Tomar had to shoulder most of the burden himself.

Even though he did score a 10 himself, Rishank’s presence could have sharpened the attack and might have even presented them with a win. Tomar understandably rued his fellow raider’s absence.

“Rishank’s injury proved costly in the scheme of things. He has been a good performer for the team. We very much felt his absence slowed down the pace of the game.”

It was not just Devadiga who got injured. Defender Hadi Tajik too was unfortunate on the night as he felt the full force of a tackle and had to be sidelined.

The two players’ absence impeded the progress of the Yoddhas and coach Udaya Kumar emphasised on the same.

“Both teams were on par initially. We had made a certain strategy for the win but time was short. Injuries to key players did not help us at all,” adding, as an explanation for the slow pace of the game towards the end, “We were not confident enough to try for bonus point with just five players. It could have been too risky.”

Bengal too has missed the services of Deepak Narwal, who is effective in chipping in with vital raid points. But Bengal coach Jagdish Kumble made it clear that it did not impact the game at all.

With the fifth season of the Pro Kabaddi League scheduled to continue for three months, rest is of paramount importance, he pointed out.

“A rested player can bring back energy into a team,” he stressed.

The Warriors captain Surjeet Singh, meanwhile, was pleased after bringing the team five points. A day before he had lamented that his performance was not up to the mark when Bengal snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against the defending champions Patna Pirates.

“Today I definitely played much better than yesterday. Will surely try to continue this and give my team a win the next time,” he promised.