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The start of the Ahmedabad leg was supposed to mark the beginning of a new rivalry as newcomers Gujarat Fortunegiants took on U Mumba in the only match of the night. What was expected to be a good contest though turned into an absolute thrashing as the Fortunegiants inflicted a 39-21 beating on the experienced Mumba team.
Here's what stood out on the opening night of the Ahmedabad leg.
#1 Abozar Mighani could do no wrong
Fazel Atrachali has become a star in Pro Kabaddi with his impressive performances over the last two seasons. He is the marquee name in the Fortunegiants' squad, but he isn't the only Iranian strongman in the lineup. His countryman Abozar Mighani mans the right corner and he was absolutely brilliant tonight.
Coming off some sub par performances in the past few games, Abozar shone on what was his side's home debut here in Ahmedabad. He was up for this encounter from the first minute and grounded every single U Mumba raider down as he picked up a High 5 with 5 tackle points. He even took the first raid of the match for his side ahead of the raiders in his side.
His thigh hold was like a bear hug the Mumba raiders could not escape. He played like he knew it was his day.
#2 Raiding troubles continue for U Mumba
Despite having three star raiders in their mix - Anup Kumar, Shabeer Bapu and Kashiling Adake - the U Mumba side have failed to get a rhythm going in the raid department. Anup was expected to take a backseat this season with Shabeer and Kashi expected to shoulder the bigger load.
Kashi though, after being superb the first three seasons, has continued his struggles this season. He had only 9 raid points from his three matches played coming into this one and his team decided to drop him for this encounter as a result. Nitin Madane took his place.
Anup and Shabeer however, could not make much of an impact with the latter looking slow and very laboured in his movement. The Gujarat defence had Anup's number on the night, essentially ensuring that Mumba did not cause much damage with their raids.
Shabeer looked so bad that Kashi had to be finally introduced as a replacement with 3:23 left in the first half. He wasn't able to influence the result much after he came on.
Anup has 21 raid points from four matches while Kashi has just 9 and Shabeer 10, causing a headache for Mumba so far this season.
#3 Just 5 tackle points for U Mumba on the night
One of the reasons U Mumba have been so successful in Pro Kabaddi is their defensive unit. Despite the chopping and changing of squads every season, Mumba have relied on their defensive prowess to challenge for the title.
This year, they don't quite have star names as in the past, but instead have a young unit that looked like it had started finding its feet in the previous match. Tonight, however, they could barely trouble the Fortunegiants' raiders.
Mumba had just 5 tackle points on the night, an abysmally low number for them as Kuldeep, Surender Singh and Suresh Kumar all struggled mightily. The fact that Kashi, a raider, finished with the most tackle points (2) for U Mumba tonight says it all.
#4 Rohit Gulia makes a huge impact
Barring a couple of well-known faces, the Gujarat side largely comprises solid, lesser-known young players, providing an opportunity for some of these young talents to burst out and excel on the big stage.
All-rounder Rohit Gulia had a fantastic evening for the Fortunegiants on Friday. Just 19 years old, Gulia led all scorers with 9 points on the night, one of which was a tackle point. His 8 raid points were key ones too - twice he got Anup out while raiding.
Very calm and calculated, Gulia made smart decisions by opting not to go for too much and instead luring the defence out. His outstanding performance laid the platform for what was a supreme all-round performance as Gujarat dominated Mumba.
#5 A raider thrown out for not chanting 'kabaddi'
With the Fortunegiants leading 27-15 with about 9 minutes to go, their star defender Fazel Atrachali came into raid, presumably for an empty raid, as a means of killing time.
However, after he'd taken a few steps and setting himself up for the raid, he was stopped by the sound of the referee's whistle. Post the whistle, the umpires were seen gesturing to Fazel that he was out.
The Iranian looked completely stumped before the umpires explained that he had stopped his chant of 'kabaddi' after his first few seconds in the opponents' half. It was quite a first to see a raider be given out for not uttering the basic chant while raiding.
