Having gone through a disappointing season so far, Delhi Dabang side is hopeful of turning things around in their home leg of season 5 starting here on Friday.
Speaking at a press conference at Thyagaraj Stadium on Thursday, the venue for Pro Kabaddi league matches in the capital, coach of the DD side, Dr Ramesh Bhendigiri expressed optimism about his team's chances of making it to the play-offs despite occupying the bottom spot in the points table.
"We can still qualify if we do well in the home leg starting tomorrow, it all depends on our performance in the six upcoming home matches" Bhendigiri asserted ahead of his team's first home match on Friday against U Mumba.
The Mumbai side led by the indefatigable Anup Kumar has had a mixed season so far, though they have been better than their opponents from Delhi. The team's strength lies with their two prolific raiders, skipper Anup and the lanky Kashiling Adake.
The defence of U Mumba looks less strong compared to their raiding line-up. The main man there is Surinder Singh who has presented impressive performances this season.
Delhi, on the other hand, have seemed to be over-dependent on their captain Meraj Sheykh. Whenever the Iranian player has been off court, due to injury or otherwise, the team has lacked the bite. Other raiders haven't risen to the occasion this year. Their defence has looked especially weak and the injury to Nilesh Shinde cost them badly but he is likely to be back for Friday's game.
In the two matches between these sides this season, head-to-head stands at 1-1 with Delhi registering a narrow one point win in their last encounter.
looking back at the season, Bhendigiri wasn’t overly disappointed with their performance.
"We haven't done that badly compared to other seasons. We have been neck-and-neck with our opponents in many matches and have lost some of them due to bad luck as well. In one of the matches, our captain Meraj got injured towards the end and that cost us the game. So, overall I don't think we have done too badly," Bhendigiri, who is a Phd in Kabaddi, explained.
On being asked whether home advantage is as big a factor, the Delhi coach was cautiously optimistic. "We have seen Gujarat (Fortunegiants) and Patna (Pirates) do well on their home ground. So, yes having the home crowd behind you does help but eventually it comes down to how well the players perform."
Captain of the Dabang team, Iranian Meraj Sheykh, speaking through the translator, echoed his coach's views about the team's chances for qualifying to the next stage. "It all depends upon the home leg. We'll try our best and would listen to what our coach has to say," the Iranian who also captains his home nation's team said.
