Suffering losses from their previous games, U-Mumba and Bengaluru Bulls will face-off each other in the Pro Kabaddi League season 4 for a battle which will see the winner move to the top spot on the points table. Contesting against the Titans for the last game in Hyderabad this season, U-Mumba fell prey to the hunting skills of Rahul Chaudhari, who had a field day against them.
Bengaluru Bulls went up against the Patna Pirates and ended up unsuccessful in a bid to stop the defending champions from continuing their winning streak. Although Pardeep Narwal was not at his devastating best, Rajesh Mondal and Kuldeep Singh contributed majorly to upstage the Bulls.
Bengaluru Bulls’ performance so far
Rohit Kumar, who was drafted into the Bulls line-up following the auction has been the stand-out performer for the Bulls and leads the top raiders column at the moment. In the six matches he has featured in, Rohit has amassed 47 raid points which are the highest for this season.
After a disappointing set of games, Surender Nada came into his own against the Pirates. With four points to his credit, he teamed up well with season three’s best defender yet, Mohit Chhillar in a bid to stop the Pirates, but was unsuccessful as the Pirates have been in some stunning form.
Pawan Kumar, who has been used as a substitute in both previous encounter has been sensational in his own way. Whenever the Bulls have faced the situation of being inflicted with an all-out, Pawan has delivered through bonus and touch points.
Against the Telugu Titans, he along with young Ashish Kumar was instrumental in ensuring Bengaluru were not going to fall to an easy all-out with just three or less number of men left on the court, with under 10 minutes to go.
When the Bulls locked horns with Patna, top defender Mohit Chhillar was the main target which was quite prominently seen as he was sent to warm the bench quite often by the Patna raiders, which shifted momentum towards the home team which helped them inflict a loss on the Bulls.
U-Mumba performance so far
Placed fourth on the points table, U-Mumba has enjoyed a 50% success rate so far, with 3 wins from their six games. After demolishing the Bengal Warriors, U-Mumba were brought down to earth by a young and resurgent Telugu Titans unit.
Rishank Devadiga, who has been enjoying a purple patch off-late was kept relatively quiet by the Titans defence and ended up with just two points from the contest. Veteran Rakesh Kumar was at his ideal best and tried to bring home the win to U-Mumba, but found no support from any other player.
Skipper Anup Kumar has used himself very cleverly while opting for the raiding prowess of Surender Singh or Rishank Devadiga over himself. However, he is also climbing up amongst the ranks of the top raiders and will be a key player to watch out for as the tournament progresses to its business end.
Match Prediction
Mohit Chhillar and Surender Nada, two of PKL’s biggest gems and now part of the Bulls set-up, will be going up against their former team in a battle which will showcase some of the best in business.
The game will feature several independent battles. Rohit Kumar vs Rishank Devadiga, Mohit Chhillar vs Anup Kumar, Surender Nada vs Rakesh Kumar. Rohit and Rishank both have been in sensational form and will be the X-factors for this game.
Pawan Kumar Kadian, who was initially part of U-Mumba setup is now part of the Bulls, and the raider will be hoping to exercise his skills against his former team. Jeeva Kumar and Sunil Kumar, the two rocks in the U-Mumba armour will have to put in their best to stop the rampaging Rohit Kumar while Mohit Chhillar and Surender Nada will have to combine well to stop Rishank and Rakesh Kumar.
With two heavyweights going up against each other, one can expect a high-voltage clash which could propel the campaign of either of the teams. With experience playing on the U-Mumba side, they will be the favourites going into the game, but will have to be at their supreme best to counter the challenge thrown to them by the Bulls.
Squads
Bengaluru Bulls
Raiders : Amit Rathi, Deepak Kumar Dahiya, Rohit Baliyan, Harish Naik, Pawan Kumar Kadian, Rohit Kumar, Pawan Kumar, Sinotharan Kanesharajah, Sumit Singh, Vinod Kumar.
Defenders : Surender Nada (Captain), Mohit Chhillar, Ashish Sangwan, Jeeva Gopal, Manoj Kumar, Yogesh Hooda, Rahul Kumar, Nicholas George Mottaram, Ajay Singh.
All-Rounders : Sanjay Shrestha.
U Mumba:
Raiders: Anup Kumar (Captain), Rishank Devadiga, Gurvinder Singh, Mohammed Aruduzzaman Munshi, Suresu Kumar, Surendra Singh, Mohammed Zakir Hussain, Tuhin Tarafder, Nitin Kumar, Vikash Kumar.
Defenders: Jeeva Kumar, Vikas Kale, Sunil Kumar, Manoj Dhull, Surjeet.
All-rounders: Rakesh Kumar, Sourav V, Nitin Kumar.
Bengaluru Bulls vs U-Mumba Live Match Information
Date: 08/07/2016
Time: 20:00 IST
Venue: Pataliputra Sports Complex, Patna.
TV Channels: Star Sports 2/Star Sports 2 HD (English), Star Sports 3/Star Sports 3 HD (Hindi)
Live stream: StarSports.com
