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As the Pro Kabaddi action shifts to the city of Mumbai, the first match will see the home side, U Mumba, locking horns against the champions from the inaugural season, Jaipur Pink Panthers at the Dome, NSCI.
Both teams are coming into this encounter on the back of contrasting results, Jaipur having won their last match against the UP Yoddha by a slender margin of two points, while U Mumba suffered a defeat at the hands of Telugu Titans back in Lucknow.
Traditionally, in the past four seasons, U Mumba have had a successful outing in their home leg wherein they bank on huge crowd support that gives them an edge over the other teams. Jaipur in that context has been one team that has been able to challenge the hosts' supremacy.
U Mumba's attack is spearheaded by their talismanic captain, Anup Kumar who has been leading the team by example, performing not only while raiding but also playing a vital role in the defence. Shabeer Bapu, the second-in-charge has also returned to form and will be eager to showcase his prowess on the home turf.
The others assisting in the attack will be Kashiling Adake, Nitin Madane and young gun Darshan, two of which might come in as rolling substitutes throughout the course of the match. As for the defence, the experienced campaigners in the likes of Suresh Kumar and Joginder Narwal are injured and thus the main responsibility will fall on the shoulders of all-rounder Kuldeep. He will be supported by the likes of N. Renjith, Hadi Oshtorak and Surinder Singh, who has been in prime form while executing tackles from the corner position.
Jaipur Pink Panthers, on the other hand, are also a depleted force of sorts with two of their star players, Selvamani and Manjeet Chhillar out of the equation owing to injuries. Thus, it will be their frontline raider, Jasvir Singh who will be leading the side on the mat.
The positive aspect for the team has been the fact that their young players with quite less playing experience stepped up in the last match against UP Yoddha especially the likes of Santhapanaselvam, the defender at the corner position and Nitin Rawal, who assists the attack. Amongst the others, Somvir Shekhar and Tushar Patil will have a major role to play if the side is to challenge the home side and take the match down to the wire.
U Mumba vs Jaipur Pink Panthers match prediction
The home side definitely holds the advantage in this match given the fact that they will be playing in conducive surroundings backed by crowd support. If Jaipur are to succeed, the strategy should be to keep Anup off the mat for the maximum amount of time possible, because without his leadership, there is great chance of a collapse for the hosts.
