Hiten Shukla, Ahmedabad
Gujarat Fortune Giants are going to win all the home matches, roared Coach Manpreet Singh on Friday, a day before the Giants kick off the home leg of the Vivo Pro Kabaddi League Season 7 with a match against Tamil Thalaivas at Eka Arena by TransStadia, Maninagar on Saturday. This will be the first of the four matches Giants are slated to play in front of their home crowd in Ahmedabad this Season.
For the Giants, who began their campaign with three straight wins before losing two matches on the trot, the home leg has come at the right time, as the Sunil Kumar-led team looks to get back on the winning track.
The Giants will not only cherish the support from the home fans but also have an excellent record at home. In Season 5, the team won five out of six matches, while one ended in a tie. In the last Season, the team notched up four wins and a tie in six matches.
“When we play on the home ground, the cheering and chanting of Giants fans give players special energy. It boosts their confidence level. It is not different this time. Everyone is raring to go. We have an excellent record here and will keep it intact by winning all the four matches,” Manpreet Singh told media persons.
The first two of the four home matches of the Giants will be played back-to-back. After the Tamil Thalaivas, Manpreet Singh’s boys will take on the Telugu Titans on Sunday. The third home match will be against the Bengal Warriors on Wednesday, and the last one against Jaipur Pink Panthers on Friday.
Talking about the Giants’ defeats in the last two matches, the Coach said that their mistakes, and not the skill of the opposition teams, were responsible for the twin losses.
“There were a few miscalculations, some mistakes which caused our downfall. Going for advance tackles did us in. I firmly believe that we were in a position to beat U Mumba and Puneri Paltan as well, but the mistakes cost us. We have rectified the errors and reworked our strategies after analyzing the videos,” he said further.
Singh also expressed full confidence in his lead raider Sachin Tanwar, who is yet to show the form of the earlier editions of Pro Kabaddi League in the current season so far. The youngster has 374 raid points from 52 matches in his PKL career so far, just 26 shy of the illustrious 400-Club. Sachin scored 159 and 190 points in Season 5 and 6 respectively but has scored just 25 points from five matches this season.
The lead raider of the Giants is just 26 raid points away from the illustrious 400-Club.
“It is a long season and players need time to settle. It is just a matter of time. Sachin will certainly turn the tables with his super-10s. Giants’ fans are going to witness something special in the home leg,” he added.
