The fourth edition of the Pro Kabaddi league started off with a bang on Saturday as both Puneri Paltans and U Mumba came out victorious in closely fought encounters.
The Paltans led by the mighty Manjeet Chhillar opened their campaign against the Telugu Titans. The match was really close and could’ve turned either way before the lion-hearted Manjeet Chhillar saved the team with his powerful defensive tackles. He single-handedly tackled Rahul Chaudhari and the pacey Vinoth Kumar, to secure a two-point lead in the dying moments.
Finally, the Paltans who trailed in the first half clinched a win by 28-24.
Mumbai, on the other hand, showcased their heroics in the final minutes of the game against Jaipur Pink Panthers. They were extremely dominant in the first half, having slipped a bit in the second half before securing a nervy win of 36-34.
Puneri Paltans and U Mumba will square off against each other in the battle of heavyweights at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Match Prediction
Mumbai, who lost the key defenders Mohit Chhillar and Surender Nada looked completely out of balance in the corner areas against Jaipur. Initially, Jeeva Kumar and Rakesh Kumar struggled in the left and right corners against the strong and determined Shabeer Bapu.
It will be very interesting to see if Mumbai continues to scuffle in the corner areas when they come up against the quality raiders of Ajay Thakur and Sonu Narwal’s calibre.
Rishank Devadiga’s stunning raids in do-or-die situations really made a huge significance in the outcome of the match. Rakesh Kumar, the former Indian National Kabaddi captain had 9 raid points and 3 tackle points in the game that earned him the best raider and defender of the match.
The newly looked Pune team covered all the areas and benefited hugely from the arrival of Sonu Narwal, the tallest player in the Pro Kabaddi league. The former Asian games Gold medalist has caused enough problems for the Telugu’s defenders with his height and diving hand touches.
Manjeet Chhillar was solid with his tackles but Deepak Niwas Hooda, one of the players to be retained by the franchise was below-par against Titans. Ajay Thakur and Nitin Tomar played their part with some useful raids points.
U Mumba never lost to the Paltans in any of the past three seasons. Pune were defeated by the Anup Kumar-led team on 6 previous outings and moreover, Manjeet Chhillar the captain of the Pune team has played against Mumbai on 8 occasions including his previous stint in Bengaluru colours, but has won just once and lost 7 matches.
It’s time for the skipper to change his team’s fortunes by putting a splendid performance at the sold out SVP Stadium in Mumbai, on Sunday. Mumbai will get a lot of support from the fans, though SVP Stadium will act as a home ground for the Paltans for their remaining 5 fixtures.
It’s a very difficult call to make as the teams look well built in both attack and defense but I go with Mumbai considering the enormous record they had over their enemies.
Squads
U Mumba:
Defenders: Jeeva Kumar, Vikas Kale, Sunil Kumar, Manoj Dhull, Surjeet
All-rounder: Rakesh Kumar, Sourav V
Raider: Gurvinder Singh, Mohammed Aruduzzaman Munshi, Suresu Kumar, Surendra Singh, Mohammed Zakir Hussain, Tuhin Tarafder, Anup Kumar, Rishank Devadiga, Nitin Kumar, Vikash Kumar.
Puneri Paltans
Defenders: Ketut Ariana, Gurpreet Singh, Somvir Shekhar, Ravinder Pahal, Joginder Narwal, Khomsan Thongkham, Virender Chhillar;
All-rounder: Parmod Narwal, Preetam Chhillar, Manjeet Chhillar, Dalbir, Deepak Niwas Hooda;
Raider: Ajay Thakur, Sonu Narwal, Jay Bahadur Bohara, Anil Shriram Nimbolkar, Akshay Jadhav.
Puneri Paltan vs U Mumba Live Match Information
Date: 26/06/2016
Time: 21:00 IST
Venue: DOME@NSCL SVP Stadium, Mumbai
TV Channel: Star Sports 2 (English), Star Sports 3 (Hindi)
Live Stream: http://www.starsports.com/
