Season 2 champions U Mumba, with a win and two consecutive losses against their name, will look to get back to winning ways as they take on a wobbly Dabang Delhi outfit for match 11 of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League Season 4. After ending up annihilated by the Puneri Paltan in their second match, U-Mumba almost pulled off a sensational victory against the Patna Pirates but fell short by 2 points owing Pardeep Narwal’s brilliant raiding in the final minute.
Shifting base from home to Jaipur, U Mumba will be playing their second away game against Delhi, who have registered a win and a tie against their name from the two games they have played. After receiving a battering at the hands of the Bengal Warriors, Delhi beat all odds to level the contest against the high-flying Puneri Paltan, courtesy some gusty contributions from each of the raiders and the irreplaceable Iranian Meraj Sheykh.
U Mumba started strong by winning the opening game but have faltered ever since. Against a shaky Delhi squad, they have a chance to make a comeback. However, this is not a Dabang Delhi squad devoid of talent. After the revamp, some strong talent adorns the Delhi team, and U Mumba will have to remain wary of the challenges they can pose.
U Mumba performance so far
Playing their first match at home, U Mumba came into the tournament with the core of their squad comprising of some quality players, including skipper Anup Kumar and all-rounder Rakesh Kumar. Starting strong in the first few minutes, U-Mumba took the lead early with Anup and Rakesh scoring points in their opening raids. Rishank Devadiga played the perfect ally to Rakesh Kumar, as he produced strong raids to score quick points for the home side.
U Mumba inflicted an all-out on the Panthers and ended the first half with a lead of 8 points and a scoreline reading 20-12. The second half saw the home team struggling for points, as two all-outs dealt by former U-Mumba raider Shabeer Bapu saw the lead go to the Panthers early in the second half. With 10 minutes left, Rakesh Kumar put in all the experience he had to produce some swift raid points for U-Mumba. Jasvir Singh was caught in the final minute of the game, which sealed the victory for U-Mumba.
In the Maharashtrian derby, U-Mumba were decimated by a flawless Puneri Paltans squad led by Season two’s MVP, Manjeet Chhillar. U-Mumba, a team which typically remains watchful in the initial minutes were in a turmoil early into the match, with an all-out just seven minutes into the game inflicted on them.
Ajay Thakur made utmost use of U-Mumba’s toothless defence, with three super raids throughout the game, two in crunch do-or-die raids. With Pune leading 26-10 into the second half, U-Mumba were never allowed to claw back into the game. An all-out with five minutes left knocked the sails out of U-Mumba’s ship, from where they fell to a gigantic loss.
Against the Patna Pirates, one thing that U-Mumba could take home as a positive was that the defense was splendid throughout the game, along with Rishank Devadiga’s raiding form. However on the day, Pardeep Narwal’s raiding skill was too hot to handle for the U Mumba defence. Raking up 18 points from his raids, Pardeep went through the U Mumba defence without much trouble, apart from succumbing to two super tackles.
U Mumba defence went a notch higher than what they showcased so far, with four super tackles in the game, two to the credit of veteran Rakesh Kumar. Rishank Devadiga scored points at free will, while accomplishing a super ten, his first of this year. With U Mumba leading before the last raid, Pardeep produced a stellar raid which saw him score two points plus a bonus to leave U Mumba lamenting at another lost opportunity.
Dabang Delhi performance so far
Facing a strong, defence surrounded Bengal Warriors side, the Dabangs got off to a good start courtesy an opening point from their captain Kashiling Adake and took an early lead in the contest. However, after that point, Kashi faded away, scoring just a single point to his name throughout the rest of the game which hurt Delhi.
With skipper Kashi unable to deliver, the onus was on Deepak Narwal. To Delhi’s dismay, he scored just the one point during the game. Meraj Sheykh was the lone shining star amongst the Delhi players, contributing through his swift raids and immaculate tackles. With 10 minutes remaining, the Warriors inflicted an all-out, from where Delhi could never find their footing to get back in the game and ultimately lost by a 8 point margin.
After the loss, Delhi were set to face the Puneri Paltans, who were also coming into the match at the back of a loss but were in decent form after winning their initial two bouts. Delhi took an early lead in the match, but scores were soon levelled by some quality raiding from Deepak Niwas Hooda and Manjeet Chhillar. A super tackle on Manjeet got the lead back to Delhi. Delhi’s childish errors saw the lead go back to the Paltan with an all-out from a Nitin Tomar raid.
The second half started with a two-point deficit on Delhi. Selvamani K, who was retained, showcased some superb skills, taking out Ravinder Pahal in a do-or-die raid after scoring two points in his first raid attempt in the first half.
With 9 minutes to go, Delhi forced their first all-out but ended up on the receiving end soon as Pune scored a hat-trick of points to reduce the Delhi men to just four on the mat. In a moment of brilliance, a struggling Deepak Narwal got the lead back to Delhi with a terrific Super raid. Meraj Sheykh entered the Pune half with 20 seconds to go, but was pinned down by Manjeet Chhillar, which drew the scores on 27, and gave PKL Season 4 it’s first tied game.
Match Prediction
Following two back to back losses, the U Mumba management will have to come up with some formula to get back to winning ways. Rishank Devadiga has no doubt been the stand-out for U Mumba along with Rakesh Kumar. With 18 raid points from 3 games, Rishank has repaid the faith shown in him by U Mumba, having retained him ahead of this season.
Rakesh Kumar has been a success story throughout and will be the X-factor for this game with his ability to raid and prove his worth while defending as well. Anup Kumar, who has 17 raid points from 3 games has been consistent, and will be the player to watch out for from U Mumba.
Although the defence came out a cropper against the Puneri Paltans, the defence came together against Patna to inflict four super tackles against them, and this will be a positive sign for U-Mumba.
Without any doubt, Dabang Delhi has a team which can upstage any other line-up this year. Meraj Sheykh has been at the top of his game, and has received support from Selvamani K while raiding and Sachin Shingade while defending. However, against the Paltan, Sachin presented large chunks of haste while defending, and will to be careful in this important encounter.
Selvamani K, the towering youngster has been supremely impressive, and his position in the starting seven will have to be something Dabang Delhi explore. In the limited number of chances he has been given, he has to a certain level even upstaged the slightly par Kashiling Adake, and he could be the difference Delhi will look for.
For Delhi to control the proceedings, Kashiling Adake will have to come back to his sublime form and will be the X-factor for this game. Defence pillars Prashant Chavan and D. Suresh Kumar will have to combine well with Meraj to stop Anup Kumar and his team.
Squads
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.
Dabang Delhi
Raiders: Kashiling Adake, Selvamani K, Deepak Narwal, Sanju, Prashant Rai, Umesh Mhatre, Vikash Khandola.
Defenders: Prashant Chavan, D. Suresh Kumar, D Gopu, Ram Kumar Sah, Sachin Shingade, Anil Kumar, Hadi Tajik, Sanket Chavan.
All-Rounders: Bhupender Singh, Meraj Sheykh, Phoonchoo Tin, Manjeet.
U Mumba vs Dabang Delhi Live Match Information
Date: 01/07/2016
Time: 20:00 IST
Venue: Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur.
TV Channels: Star Sports 2/Star Sports 2 HD (English), Star Sports 3/Star Sports 3 HD (Hindi)
Live stream: http://www.starsports.com
