U Mumba will look for their first win in their home leg after a string of three defeats that has left them tottering on the Zone A table. They will be led by Anup Kumar, who has been the key point scorer and talisman of the team over the course of the campaign. In the absence of key raiders such as Shabeer Bapu, the youngsters have stepped up in attack in the form of Darshan and Srikanth Jadhav. In defense, they have struggled with injury too and will rely on young guns Surinder and Renjith to come good, along with experienced names such as Kuldeep Singh and Hadi Oshtorak.
The Gujarat Fortunegiants have been the best team so far and will come into the match on the back of a seven-game winning streak. Their two Iranians in the defense have been highly impressive in the form of Fazel Atrachali and Abozar Mighani at the cover positions. In the covers, they have a young Indian duo in the form of Sunil Kumar and Parvesh Bhainswal, who have also impressed. Their raiding department is led by captain Sukesh Hegde and the bulk of the raiding will be done by two youngsters - Rohit Gulia and Sachin, with the latter being one of the best performers this season at the young age of 18.
15:49 (IST)29 AUG 2017
The second half of the Mumbai leg of the fifth season of the Pro Kabaddi League is all set to get underway and the home side U Mumba will be looking to finally open their win account in front of their home fans, having lost the last three matches they have played at the NSCI Dome. They have a daunting task ahead of them as they face off against the high-flying Gujarat Fortunegiants, who have proven to be the most dangerous team in the competition so far and sit pretty on top of the Group A points table.
The Season 2 champions have recorded just three wins in nine games so far, a far cry from their days of domination in the previous editions. They sit in fifth place in a six-team group having played the second-most number of matches so far - not a good sign if you are a U Mumba fan. The Anup Kumar-led side have defeated the Haryana Steelers, UP Yoddha and Dabang Delhi so far this season, but have lost all their games at home so far at the hands of the teams from Jaipur, Pune and Delhi.
The Fortunegiants, in stark contrast, have been the team to beat so far this season and in the ten matches they have played, they have lost just the one match to the Haryana Steelers. The remaining nine have seen two draws and seven wins, which includes five in a row at home.
Stay tuned to this space for the latest updates from the match!
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