Experience will give us an edge: Chennai captain Mohan Ukkrapandian

The wealth of experience in the Chennai Blitz ranks will give it an edge over the other teams in the inaugural edition of the Prime Volleyball League, according to captain Mohan Ukkrapandian.

There is no dearth of senior statesmen in the Blitz squad, with the domestic contingent comprising India internationals Ukkrapandian, Naveen Raja Jacob, GS Akhin, GR Vaishnav and Kanagaraj among others. Fernando Gonzalez (Venezuela) and Bruno da Silva of Brazil add the foreign flavour to the Chennai team in Prime Volleyball Season 1, which will begin on Saturday at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad.

“In case we endure a rough patch [at some stage of the competition], we will be able to pick ourselves up and make a comeback with the help of our experience. We have a well-balanced squad. One can’t deny that,” setter Ukkrapandian said at a virtual presser.

“The understanding between the [Indian] players is good. I have played with Naveen, Vaishnav and Akhin for India as well as for Tamil Nadu. We have a pretty good connection on court. I feel that it is good for our team,” added Ukkrapandian. “We (the Indians) have been developing a good on-court understanding with the foreign players since their arrival in Hyderabad. In the last few days, we had some training sessions with them.” Ukkrapandian is optimistic that the Blitz team would translate pre-season form into tournament success. “We have been practising for more than 20 days (first in Chennai and now in Hyderabad). Overall, our preparation has been good. It is now time for us to execute our plans [in the competitive matches]. We can’t wait for the League to begin,” Ukkrapandian said.

(The Prime Volleyball League can be caught LIVE on SONY TEN 1 (English), SONY TEN 2 (Malayalam), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) and SONY TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) from February 5)