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The stadium wasn't packed, owing to the massive rainfall and floods in Mumbai on Tuesday. But the decibel levels were at an all time high and understandably so. U Mumba registered their first home win on the penultimate day of their home leg.
Wednesday's Pro Kabaddi League encounter between Mumbai and Haryana Steelers was a cliffhanger. While the home side were in the lead throughout the match, Haryana made U Mumba work extremely hard for their points.
Post the game, Mumbai captain, Anup Kumar was extremely pleased with his side's raiders but didn't take too well to Haryana's cocky behaviour before the game. Anup believes the Steelers didn't take Mumbai seriously and ended up paying for it.
"We hadn't planned a special strategy against them. But when I saw Haryana warming up before the game, I think they were a bit overconfident. They thought U Mumba isn't in form so they thought they could take us lightly. They lost the match because they were overconfident," he said.
U Mumba coach, Bhaskaran Edachery was relieved after his side finally managed to give the home fans something to cheer for. He reckons without Anup, there was no way the team could have won.
"I would like to thank Anup Kumar for this win. Our defenders made a lot of mistakes despite which he controlled the team really well. Only Anup can do this that is why I credit him completely for this win. He overcame every single difficulty on the mat," he stated.
Mumbai's defenders, Surinder Singh and Renjit looked completely out of sorts. They needlessly dived in for unsuccessful tackles and put their raiders under tremendous pressure.
The both of them were largely responsible for the game getting so close, however, Bhaskaran refused to pin the blame on his defenders. He specifically spoke about Surinder who was extremely poor against Haryana.
"I would like to say something about Surinder. He is only 19 years old now, he obviously will take time to reach Mohit Chhillar's level.
"He does not have the maturity to play as a corner defender, it takes time. He is giving his best. Yes he did make mistakes but his energy is great. Normally when defenders make mistakes they become less confident, that is not the case with Surinder. That is the sign of a good player," the coach added.
U Mumba will next play Jaipur Pink Panthers in their final home match in what will be a mouth watering clash between two old rivals.
