Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5 : Surjeet Singh explains how Bengal Warriors stopped an in-form Rahul Chaudhari

The Bengal Warriors couldn’t have asked for a better way to start their campaign. Playing against a Telugu Titans side who were low on confidence, the Warriors registered a 30-24 win over Rahul Chaudhari and co.

Surjeet Singh, the Warriors' skipper - who was captaining a side in Pro Kabaddi League for the first time on Wednesday didn’t disappoint either. Surjeet was razer sharp, focused and marshalled his troops with confidence. Following the game, he revealed how he kept Rahul Chaudhari in check, especially in the second half.

“Look Rahul is a good player, there are bound to be ups and downs in a player’s career. We knew his weakness, we had decided that we would make him run and move for a long time on the mat and then we will catch him in the end. Our plan worked well,” he explained.

Surjeet believes that their rigorous pre-season training camp is one of the primary reasons for their great start. Unlike popular belief, not many expected Bengal Warriors to deliver with such confidence.

“I am extremely happy that we won this match, we will try and play even better in the next match. I definitely expected a good performance, we had practised well. We held a national camp and that obviously helped us,” Surjeet stated.

Bengal coach, Jagdish Kumble was satisfied with his side's performance albeit he reckons a lot of improvements still need to be made in the defensive department.

“It wasn’t easy but the situation was always in our hands. We attempted to play even better because our defence made some mistakes. That is why the match became a little close in the end,” he said.

Comeback king, Maninder Singh produced a magical performance and ended the night with a whopping nine raid and two tackle points. Having returned to the league after a three-season hiatus, Maninder displayed no signs of nerves whatsoever.

He was extremely self-assured and controlled the tempo of the game early on. The Titans defence were caught in two minds every time Maninder stepped up to raid. The coach believes Maninder can only get better and expects him to reach great heights this season.

“Maninder will do well, you will see a much better Maninder than what you saw tonight. He’s returned after three years, that feeling of playing his first match was there. He has worked so hard on his fitness, he did all this for the fans and his team,” he signed off.