PKL 9: Important for us to win against Pirates, says Tamil Thalaivas' coach Ashan Kumar

The Tamil Thalaivas settled for a 33-33 tie against Patna Pirates at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi on Wednesday.

Speaking about their last game of the Pune leg, Tamil Thalaivas' Head Coach Ashan Kumar said, "It was very important for us to win against Patna Pirates and we played well, but the Patna side is also good. We made a few mistakes in the game and that's why we couldn't win the game. We'll play with more drive and vigour in Hyderabad."

Ashan Kumar also summed up his team's performance in the Pune leg, "We put up a decent performance in Pune. We picked up quite well and climbed up the points table. We lost two games, but we didn't lose by a big margin. I am happy with the team's performance in Pune and we'll play even better in the next leg."

The Head Coach added that the team takes pride in making comebacks if they are behind in the game, "The team has been making comebacks in matches consistently. Our team is full of youngsters and most of them are playing their debut seasons. So, they gain confidence when they find a way to catch up with their opponents or get close to their opponent's score whenever they are behind in the game."

Matches on Saturday:

The game between U.P. Yoddhas and Jaipur Pink Panthers will be a cracker of a contest as both sides are in stupendous form. While raider Pardeep Narwal will lead the charge for the Yoddhas, the Panthers will bank on their raider Arjun Deshwal.

The Telugu Titans will be certainly hoping to strike form in front of their home fans, but U Mumba's raider Guman Singh will pose a stiff challenge to the Titans.

The Dabang Delhi K.C. are desperately looking for a victory after two consecutive losses, but Patna Pirates' raider Sachin and all-rounder Rohit Gulia have been in great form.