Pro Kabaddi 2019: 3 reasons why U Mumba could win the title
VIVO Pro Kabaddi 2019 is about to commence from 20th July 2019 where the hosts Telugu Titans are set to square off in the opener against U Mumba in Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad.
U Mumba won their maiden title back in season 2 under the captaincy of Anup Kumar. One of the highest profiled teams in PKL, U Mumba have appeared in the finals from Season 1 to Season 3 consecutively.
In Season 6, U Mumba was one of the strongest sides in the competition under the leadership of their new captain, Fazel Atrachali. He led the defense of U Mumba with confidence to become the third-best defender of the sixth edition.
The offensive charge got led by the wonder boy from Maharashtra, Siddharth Sirish Desai. He bagged the best debutant of the year award with 218 raid points in 21 matches at an average of 10.38 raid points with 12 Super 10s to his name.
However, the team management decided not to retain Siddharth for the upcoming edition of the tournament. U Mumba ended their campaign against UP Yoddha with a defeat in the Eliminator (29-34).
The team management retained Fazel Atrachali, Surinder Singh, Rajaguru Subramanian, Arjun Deshwal, Mohit Baliyan (NYP), Anil (NYP), and Gaurav Kumar (NYP) ahead of the season 7 auction.
With Sanjeev Baliyan as their head coach, U Mumba signed 18 players into their squad with Sandeep Narwal being the most expensive player at 89 lakhs.
As the action-packed Kabaddi is about to kick start soon, let's take a look at three possible reasons why U Mumba will win their second Pro Kabaddi title.
#1 The corner-cover duo of Fazel Atrachali and Surender Singh
An attractive highlight about U Mumba's defense was the combination of Surender Singh (right cover) and Fazel Atrachali (left corner) in their campaign of Season 6. Both of them understood their game plan and executed them with precision to make U Mumba the team with the highest tackle points in the sixth season (289 tackle points).
Surender Singh had a remarkable campaign yet again last year after his dominant debut in season 5. He scored 62 tackle points in 22 matches at an average of 2.82 tackle points. Surender became the seventh-best defender of Season 6 where he executed some timely dashes and blocks to aid Fazel Atrachali in the corner.
Fazel Atrachali had the best season of his career last year when he scored 83 tackle points in 23 matches at an average of 3.61 tackle points. With his waist and ankle hold, Fazel Atrachali gained immense support from Surender where they executed combination tackles to ensure the defense remains intact.
The raiders shall win matches for U Mumba. However, with this defensive combination, U Mumba will be poised to win their second Pro Kabaddi title.