Hyderabad Black Hawks captain Guru Prashant was rightly named the RuPay Player of the Match during his side’s 3-2 (10-15, 15-14, 15-9, 12-15, 15-11) win over Chennai Blitz in Match 16 of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League Powered by A23 Season 2.

Prashant, Hyderabad’s 22-year-old universal, was one of the two players across both teams who won more than 15 individual points in the game. Overall, his tally read 20 points, 18 of which were accumulated in attack while two came via blocks.

Although Prashant did make a few errors here and there which brought his efficiency in attack down to 50 percent, the fact remains that his mere presence was enough for Hyderabad to go from 0-1 down to win the game 3-2.

The young captain was involved in the game right from the very beginning. In the first set alone, the 22-year-old tallied six points. This not only involved his thunderous spikes but also a Super Point and a fantastic block.

Watching Prashant’s rhythm, his teammates started getting involved and by set 4, Trent O’Dea’s influence became more evident. One might see it as a growing momentum but in all fairness, it was the captain’s impact and his credibility that bonded his team throughout the fixture.

If not for his ‘captain’s innings’, it is possible that Hyderabad would have lost the final set.

By now, it is more than evident that Guru Prashant is building his own identity. Last year’s Emerging Player of the Season is duly living up to expectations as he currently tops the list of best scorers with 76 points, which is considerably more than second-placed Tsvetelin Tsvetanov, who has 52 points to his name.