By Kaushik Kumar
Vishakhapatnam, Dec 12 (IANS) Lying at the third place in Zone B, the Telugu Titans are struggling to seal a play-off berth as the cash-rich Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) approaches its business end, but the team’s star raider Rahul Chaudhary is optimistic of his side’s advancement to the next stage.
The Titans, who are currently playing their home leg here, have fetched 45 points from 17 games with seven wins and nine losses. They have to win all their remaining five contests to march ahead in this year’s league.
Three teams each from zones A and B will qualify for the next round. The Titans are facing some tough competition from the fourth placed Bengal Warriors, who are breathing down their necks at 43 points from 15 matches. Currently placed fifth, UP Yoddha are also in with a chance, provided they win their remaining four contests.
However, Rahul, who has been a part of the Titans’ roster since the inaugural PKL, is confident that his team will surpass all the hurdles.
Talking to IANS, Rahul, also known as “raid-machine”, spoke on his team’s chances for play-offs beside his personal journey over the years.
“All the our boys are fit and none of them are injured, which is very good from the team’s point of view. There was a bit of combination problem, we failed to make a right decision as what should we do and what we shouldn’t, which resulted in our losses in some games,” the 25-year-old said.
“We are trying to not repeat the mistakes. All our raiders are performing very well.The only problem is that at crucial moments, we fail to stop them (opponent’s raiders) from taking points. Our defence needs slight improvement and if it happens, we will certainly be victorious in all our matches,” Rahul opined.
In the history of the league, the Bijnor boy tops the points chart with a total of 845 points. He has amassed 135 points from 17 games in the ongoing sixth season but Rahul insisted that he has never played for personal records.
“I don’t aim for records .My only aim is to make the team win so that the trophy is ours at the end. Points keep on coming but the trophy doesn’t. I hope the trophy also comes to us this time,” he said.
On being asked whether his team is over-dependent on him, Rahul said: “It is not like that but yes the main raider is the lifeline of any team. Yes, I think they rely on me a bit (laughs).”
Rahul, who earlier used to play as a defender, also said that he is enjoying to be a raider now.
“I am enjoying being a raider than a defender. A defender would make a maximum of five catches in 40 minutes and that too, it can be both successful or unsuccesful. While raiding, just one single good jump or a good raid brings more applause to you,” expressed the ace raider.
Since the day the Titan’s home-leg kicked-off, Rahul and his team mates have enjoyed immense support from the locals with fans chanting the name of the star raider and every game at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium here turning out to be jam-packed.
However, Rahul feels it was something which motivates him to perform better rather than adding extra pressure.
“They (local fans) have given tremendous support to us, be it on-the-field or off-the-field. Such great support only motivates you to perform better so that we could also make them (fans) happy. But, once being on the mat, we solely focus on our game, we forget the outer hustle and bustle,” said Rahul.
Rahul, who used to be overweight during his childhood, is today considered as one of the fittest player in this sport.
Commenting on how he keeps himself fit, Rahul explained: “It (fitness) all depends on your diet and practice. I also try to practice more and more besides keeping a proper check on my daily intake. I mostly rely on dry fruits, fruits and avoid foods containing carbohydrate.”
“Earlier, I used to be overweight during my childhood days as I ate anything, anytime and my daily routine lacked physical labour. It has now changed completely,” the raid-machine signed off.
(Kaushik Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])
–IANS
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