“Where are you going to get the money for a good defense?”


Bengal Warriorz's hopes of qualifying ended with their defeat Pink Panthers of Jaipur. On Saturday, October 18, they suffered a 38-30 defeat. Reflecting on the same, head coach Naveen Kumar lamented the mistakes made by the defence.

The Bengal Warriorz defenders were not up to the task. Ankit and Ashish scored two tackle points while Manjeet, Parteek and Nitesh Kumar got one tackle each. The coach also made a massive statement that they could not build a strong defensive unit by spending a massive sum on Devank Dalal in the auctions.

“We fought but there were some mistakes in defense. We have two games left and we will try to see how the players who have not had a chance in these games do. If there is the most expensive raider in your team, where do you get the money for a good defense? You will not get that quality and you will have to make a sacrifice”, he said during the post-match press conference.

Bengal warrior spent Rs 2.205 crore on Devank during the auctions. He was the second most expensive player after Mohammadreza Shadloui. Devank justified his huge price with 271 raid points and 15 Super 10. However, the team could not play as a unit this season.

The head coach of Jaipur Pink Panthers in the win over Bengal Warriorz

On the other hand, Pink Panthers of Jaipur he got his second consecutive win. After their win over Bengal Warriorz, head coach Narender Redhu was happy with Nitin Kumar Dhankar's display. He also praised the team for keeping Devank relatively calm. Devank scored nine raid points.

“We have won two games in a row. I also said earlier that we were waiting for Nitin Dhankar and he played very well again. We were just afraid that Devank would take the game but we controlled it. It is a young team that is doing well and Nitin is back so I am happy. Now the confidence is getting better in the team,” he said.

Nitin scored another Super 10, picking up 15 raid points. The coach praised him for his performance throughout the season.

“I have been watching Nitin for two years now. I have been saying that he has the talent. With Bengal he was playing as a second raider. But I had faith in him that we could make him the leading raider to bring out the best of his qualities. He is very disciplined. He did not rest at all before the season.”

Despite missing a few games due to injury, Nitin has been one of the best players. He has scored 135 raid points in 13 games with nine Super 10s.