PKL 2019 | Ups and downs keep coming in player’s career, says Rohit Kumar

After losing to Dabang Delhi on Saturday, the defending champions came out all guns blazing against inaugural champions Jaipur Pink Panthers and they managed to win the game by a huge margin of 41-30. However, the star for them in this match was not Pawan Sehrawat as Bulls skipper Rohit Kumar decided to take the responsibility on his shoulder. Rohit scored 13 raid points and along with the defenders helped the Bulls register a win against the Panthers.

Despite some poor outings in the raiding department, Rohit said that he was not under any pressure while stepping on the mat and ups and downs are a part of the players’ lives.

“I didn’t really feel pressure as such because ups and downs keep coming in a player’s career. I was not going through a good phase earlier. The coach told me to be patient. There were several people who were questioning my ability to do well but the coach told me that my time will come,” Rohit told reporters after the match on Sunday. 

“Today, as soon as we entered the mat, the coach told me to go and perform; it’s my time. As soon as I heard that I felt confident. I’ve been trying since the last few games, but I kept getting caught. The coach told me not to force it. So, I said I will listen to him whole-heartedly and only get in the game once he instructs me to. 

“That happened today and the team won. To play such a good game against Jaipur Pink Panthers, who are a table-topping team, will do our confidence a world of good and we expect to do well in our home leg as well now,” the skipper added.

Coach Randhir Singh drew a comparison between the games against Delhi and Jaipur during the press conference. He also said that Pawan can’t take the responsibility of the entire team and there was full faith on the skipper to deliver whenever there is a requirement. 

“Yesterday, before half time, our defence was even better than it was today. However, after halftime we let the match slip. Today I was very stern with the players and told them that Pawan Sehrawat cannot shoulder the entire team’s burden alone. 

“I had complete faith that Rohit Kumar would come good, and he did. Jaipur Pink Panthers have a number of quality raiders and I knew that we could only win today, if the defence played well,” coach Randhir explained.