Languishing at the eighth position among 12 teams after two wins and two losses from four matches, Haryana Steelers will look to get back to winning ways in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 9 when they face fellow strugglers U Mumba at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, here on Friday.
The JSW Sports-owned franchise gave a tough fight against defending champions Dabang Delhi but lost 38-36 at the death.
U Mumba, like the Steelers, has also won two out of their four games so far and Joginder Narwal, who was one of the Steelers’ key players against Delhi, said his team has worked on their shortcomings and is ready for the encounter.
“We came really close to beating Dabang Delhi and that has given us a lot of confidence. In the past few days at the camp, we have discussed the areas in which we can improve and we have planned our strategies for the upcoming games,” Narwal said.
While U Mumba, who is in the ninth position, have not been in the best of forms so far this season, raiders Guman Singh and Jai Bhagwan have been performing well for the team. Haryana’s veteran defender Joginder Narwal gave little away in terms of strategies but insisted that his team is well prepared to tackle the threat posed by Friday’s opponents.
“Before the match, we cannot talk about strategies. We have to keep some discussions close to the camp. We recognize that U Mumba has a good raiding unit and we have talked about them in training. We are ready to give them a tough fight,” he said.
On being asked about the consistent performances from Manjeet Dahiya and Nitin Rawal for the team this season, Narwal said that the duo have been working hard in training and are always eager to step up for the team.
“Both Manjeet and Nitin are highly motivated and eager to perform. They have been training hard, giving their everything, like each and every player in the squad. We are quite delighted to see them win points for us and I am confident they will continue to do so throughout the season,” said the Steelers skipper.
Joginder Narwal further added that the morale in the camp has not been affected by the results of the past two games, and stressed that there’s plenty of action still to come in the tournament.
“It is a very long season and there are times when one team may lose a few games. But it does not determine the final outcome of the season as in such a long tournament, every team is capable of making a comeback. Everyone is still high on morale at the camp and we are all motivated to return to winning ways,” he signed off.
