Pro Kabaddi 2019: Predicting the starting 7 for U Mumba
Pro Kabaddi 2019 is set to commence on 20th July 2019 as the hosts Telugu Titans will take on U Mumba in the opening game of the seventh edition which will take place in the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad.
U Mumba, a franchise from Maharashtra won the Pro Kabaddi trophy back in the second season and also features in the finals in season one and season three. They were eliminated at the end of the group stages in the fourth and fifth season but in season 6, U Mumba were successful in making their entry into the playoffs.
Their home leg will commence from 27th July in Mumbai and will end on 2nd August. In the Season 7 auctions, U Mumba signed 16 players apart from Fazel Atrachali, Rajaguru Subramanian, Surinder Singh, and Arjun Deshwal, who were all retained by the franchise.
Sandeep Narwal (₹89 lakh), Abhishek Singh (₹10 lakh) and Rohit Baliyan (₹35 lakh), Dong Geon Lee, Athul MS were the highlight purchases for U Mumba. Indian Railways coach Sanjeev Kumar Baliyan will essay the role of the head coach for U Mumba.
Here is a look at how U Mumba could line up for the first match of the season.
Right Corner: Sandeep Narwal
Fondly referred to as 'The Beast from the East', Sandeep Narwal is one of the best all-rounders of Pro Kabaddi. He is a player who can turn the tables at any moment in the game. Sandeep debuted with the Patna Pirates back in the inaugural season of Pro Kabaddi and also played a crucial role in Patna's PKL triumph in season 3.
Sandeep's services were snapped up by the Telugu Titans for season 4 before he moved to Puneri Paltan for season 5 and played two seasons for them. He has a total of 229 raid points from 101 matches apart from 254 tackle points at an average of 2.51 tackle points per game.
Sandeep Narwal also holds the record for the most super tackles by any player in the history of the league (23). Sandeep blocks the raiders with his upper body force, dashes the raiders out of the court and in the offense, his biggest strength is his ability to jump over the chain.
With U Mumba slightly weak on the raiding front, Sandeep could be expect to assume a little more of a raiding duty as well.