Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: "We learned a lesson tonight," admits Bengaluru Bulls captain Rohit Kumar

While he may not admit it, the pressure was well and truly on captain Ajay Thakur to lead his extremely young side to a victory against a solid Bengaluru Bulls in their second match of this Pro Kabaddi season.

What transpired was an utter early demolition of the Thalaivas by Rohit Kumar and co. At one point the Bulls led by a massive 15 points. But the side from Chennai produced a stunning comeback, reducing the deficit to a mere one point in the final seconds of the match. In the end, Bengaluru nervously held on for a 32-21 victory.

Bulls captain, Rohit Kumar heaved a sigh of relief as the referee blew the final whistle. He reckons that his team has learned a valuable lesson from tonight’s game.

“I wasn’t scared at all, I was confident that I wouldn’t let the team lose at any cost. If I am on the ground, I will try and not let it happen. If I am outside, I can’t do anything,” he said.

Kumar accepted that complacency did creep in. The Bulls completely dominated the first half and looked like inflicting a massive defeat on Thalaivas. But it wasn’t to be as Thakur’s young men displayed grit and determination.

“Because we were leading by a big margin, the players began to take it easy. That’s what happened. We have learned a lesson from tonight,” Rohit said.

Kumar himself was in his zone and scored a massive 11 points. His influence though drastically diminished in the second half. The captain admitted that it got extremely tough in the final stages of the match.

“I tried to get bonus points quite often but I was caught too. Ajay Thakur knows how I play. I tried targeting the right corner,” he explained.

Bengaluru coach, Randhir Singh refused to blame his players and suggested that no team in the league can be taken lightly.

The manner in which Tamil produced a comeback was a sight as every single Bulls player froze. Every single player chipped in but they left it too late. K Prapanjan, D Pradap and Korean Dong Geon Lee all displayed that Thalaiavas cannot be taken lightly at any cost.

“Not only Tamil (Thalaivas), as I said before, the game can change even in the final four minutes. We did make mistakes but we never considered their team to be weak. None of the 12 teams out here can win one sided. You would have seen the previous matches as well, this is why it’s called kabaddi,” the coach stated.