“Attack more in the first attempt”- Rakesh Kumar reveals how he motivated the Haryana Steelers in the 2nd half against UP Yoddha

Haryana Steelers head coach Rakesh Kumar disclosed the strategy his team used in the second half of their PKL 2022 match against UP Yoddha to deny the opposition a victory.

Pardeep Narwal’s fine performance in the first half gave UP Yoddha a one-point lead at half-time. Yoddha started the second half well and were leading by seven points by the 33rd minute.

After that, the Steelers made a fantastic comeback, thanks to their captain Vikas Kandola. He scored raid points frequently, ensuring his team pulled off a draw. Commenting on the change of strategy during the second half, Kumar told reporters at the post-match press conference:

“In the second half, I told them not to run too much and attack more in the first attempt by going deep. The defense takes a little time to settle down, so if they attack in the first attempt, they can catch the defenders off guard.”

He added:

“Generally, the defense settles down after two or three attempts, so I told them to fearlessly attack in the first attempt even if they got tackled.”

Rakesh Kumar reveals why Vikas Kandola performs so well for the Haryana Steelers

Vikas Kandola was the top scorer in the battle between Haryana Steelers and UP Yoddha with 17 points to his name. Coach Rakesh Kumar heaped praise on Kandola during the press conference and said:

“Whatever I tell to Vikas Kandola, he follows that. Because of that reason, he plays so well.”

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The Haryana Steelers earned three points from the tied game and climbed to the ninth position in the points table. The Haryana-based franchise will play their next match against last season’s runners-up Dabang Delhi KC on Saturday. It will be interesting to see if Haryana can get back to winning ways in the fixture.