Himachal Pradesh’s Raman Kumar has adored Chennai thanks to his association with Volleyball. He plays for the Chennai Blitz in the third season of the Prime Volleyball League (PVL).

Just a month after playing an integral role in Chennai Rockstars’ title success in the inaugural season of the Tamil Nadu Volleyball League, Raman Kumar carries his charm in India’s franchise-based volleyball tournament. Fortuitously, the complete season of PVL 2024 is being held in Chennai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.

On Thursday, it was Raman’s belligerence that helped Chennai Blitz turn the table after going down to a star-studded Kolkata Thunderbolts in the first set.

The match officials termed Raman as an attacker for Chennai Blitz but the 30-year-old rather played as an outside-hitter. His blazing spikes were left unresponded by the inaugural PVL champions boasted by the likes of Vinit Kumar and Ashwal Rai.

On an evening when Vinith was tearing the Chennai outfit with a salvo, Raman returned the favours. Standing at the right side of the court, he would move two steps behind to check on the height Chennai’s middle blocker GS Akhin would toss the ball.

If higher than expected, he would wait for a few seconds else would jump and unleash across the vacated area of the Thunderbolts court (left side to be precise). Raman isn’t blessed with a 6'5 height unlike Vinit. But the Chennai outside-hitter banked on the process of releasing the smash.

“Actually, this is a action that we practice. We have to go two steps behind to make room for the height (jump),” Raman told MyKhel after the match. “This is a thing that everyday someone will perform and lift the team’s morale.”

Raman accumulated just seven points in Chennai’s first three matches but he doubled the tally in their latest win against Kolkata 14-16, 21-20, 15-5, 17-19, 15-8. The outside hitter scored 14 points across five sets, all in attacking. In the decider set, he could manage only a single point only because he was asked to switch his role.

“We were focusing more on Vinit, he was doing well, and so we were told to take care of the defence,” he explained on why he was sent behind the court.

Joel Benjamin and Dhilip Kumar took the charge with attack after Raman’s tactical move. The duo was ruthless, combining for eight points together, and Joel smashed the winner, a cross-court spike.

“Actually our team’s motivation was a bit down after going down in the first set and then we made a comeback,” Raman said.

Raman acknowledge the support of the home crowd, even though it wasn’t at its full capacity. The Chennai Blitz player said that the crowd’s support motivated them to comeback stronger.

Chennai has lost only in the opening encounter against defending champion Ahmedabad Defenders. The Akhin-led team is currently placed second on the points table with three wins and six points.