Fans enjoy it: U Mumba captain Sunil Kumar on the tie-breaker rule in PKL12
In a humdinger of a game at the SMS Indoor Stadium in Jaipur on Tuesday, U Mumba succumbed to a 6-4 loss in the tie-breaker against their fierce rivals, Jaipur Pink Panthers, after the two teams were locked together at 38-38 in regulation time.
Reflecting on the game, U Mumba captain Sunil Kumar, during the post-match press conference, shared, “We make plans according to the raiders. Today, we were up against Nitin Kumar and Ali Samadi. So, we had made plans for those two. We didn’t let Ali Samadi score too many points and also tackled Nitin to restrict him from scoring as much as possible. So, our plans almost paid off. In the end, a mistake can happen and that allowed them to tie the game. And then the tie-breaker, that can go either way.”
Sharing his honest view on the tie-breaker rule, and how it has added a layer of intrigue for the fans, Sunil Kumar said, “When we play in the nationals or any local tournaments, the rule for five raids in the tie-breaker is already in place. Now, the league has also adopted it. So, the fans are also enjoying it because the games are being interesting and we’re also used to playing close matches.”
Looking back at his team’s performance in key moments, U Mumba head coach Anil Chaprana mentioned, “Our plan was to stay tight throughout. We knew that they’d look for the bonus. So, the message to the team was to go for the catch when the opponent tries for a bonus. Lokesh made a mistake there, and that cost us one of our raiders. And then they tackled our raider to manage an All Out and level the game.”
Meanwhile, the U Mumba captain also credited Sandeep Kumar for his performance as he completed his maiden Super 10. Sunil reckoned, “Sandeep was our most consistent player in the game from start to finish. He was keeping us ahead in the game until the last raid. Yes, he might have made a mistake there but that could happen to anyone.”
