Rohit Kumar was pushing his team forward scoring some extraordinary raid points. (Source: PKL Media)
Rohit Kumar scored 12 points on Friday against Tamil Thalaivas, 11 of which came from raids. Each of these were a sight to see. As has been the case every time Bengaluru Bulls took the mat at Nagpur, Rohit Kumar was pushing his team forward scoring some extraordinary raid points. Even then, he went to collect his awards and trophies ashen faced. It was almost as if he wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. When congratulated for his performance in the post match press conference, Rohit Kumar smiled and said, “Kaha bhai, uska kuch fayda nai hua (There was no use of my performance)”
His frustration is not misplaced. Despite his performance, and Ravinder Pahal’s efforts in defence, Bengaluru Bulls lost 29-24 to Tamil Thalaivas. Just a day earlier, their team work was on display when they triumphed over the Bengal Warriors. Rohit had managed only 3 points in that match but it was a day when he played a more withdrawn role while Ajay Kumar plundered the opposition defence. “At his best, he can dismiss an entire team,” said an elated Rohit after that match.
But on Friday, Ajay went for 10 raids and managed just one point out of them all. Ashish Kumar went in five times and scored two points. Apart from this and Rohit’s own gargantuan effort, one find nobody worth a mention at the end of the match on Friday.
The last time these two sides met was the first time the Bulls played in Nagpur. At the time, they took a seemingly unbreakable lead at half time. But the Thalaivas almost found a way back, losing the match by a margin of just a point. They seemed to start this match from where they left off on that day and were leading 8-12 at half time. This margin increased to seven points in the first few minutes of the second half.
Enter Rohit Kumar. He went in for consecutive raids and came back with points every time. He slid under a defenders, touched the mid line with the tip of his fingers from under another and eve jumped over one and landed on his shoulder. He came back to defend, clutching that shoulder, then went back in and came back with a point. The way Tamil Thalaivas celebrated when they finally got him out is only proof of the effect he had on the game. Unfortunately for him, his team did not reflect his form and they slipped to a third defeat at home.
