Haryana Steelers head coach Rakesh Kumar has rated 39-39 tie as a big defeat for him and his team against bottom-placed Telugu Titans.

Haryana Steelers skipper Vikash Kandola got tackled in the last raid of the match as the game ended in a stalemate. Thus, Haryana Steelers had to settle for only three points.

In fact, Haryana Steelers had the match in their pocket as they had a lead of five points with three minutes remaining on the clock. Haryana had entered the contest as favorites and Rakesh believes his team did not make the mistake of taking the opposition lightly.

“Yes it is a big defeat for me,” said Rakesh Kumar. “I never considered the Telugu Titans as a weak team. They are a very good team. If you see their matches, they have made comebacks even after conceding a big lead to their opponents. So I never thought that they were a weak team. They have the capability to turn the game at any moment.”

In fact, the Steelers had a two-point lead in the final 16 seconds of the game. Rakesh Kumar feels Vikash Kandola and Ravi Kumar made a mistake in the dying seconds of the game. The head coach believes his team didn’t have the rub of the green on their side.

“In the end, I think 16-17 seconds were remaining when they came in to raid. I told my defenders not to send him to his half quickly because if they managed to kill some time, then we would not have got another chance to raid and we would have won the game. The only thing I told them was not to concede a multi-point raid. Ravi made a mistake and sent Adarsh to his half quickly,” he added.

“I was speaking with Ravi when Vikash went in to raid. Otherwise, I would have had a word with him. I won’t say that it is Vikash’s mistake because even the best raiders get tackled. Even when I used to play, this has happened to me. So I think the luck did not favor us.”

There is no doubt that Haryana Steelers had a great opportunity to bag crucial five points but they squandered their chance and could not keep calm in the final seconds of the game.