Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: U Mumba captain Anup Kumar's astonishing rant against referees and Jasvir Singh
Thursday's Pro Kabaddi League encounter between U Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers turned out to be exactly as one would have predicted. The entire match was filled with several heated moments with usual suspect, Jasvir Singh taking center stage.
Jaipur's experienced campaigner was intent on riling up Mumbai's players, including captain, Anup Kumar. However Singh's unpopular approach backfired as the home side kept their cool and didn't let Jasvir's antics get to them.
For the umpteenth time, the referee's performance once again came under the spotlight. The overall level of officiating has been poor in season 5 and it reached it's zenith on Thursday. A lot of decisions went unjustly against U Mumba. Although they did eventually win the game 36-32, captain, Anup Kumar was disgusted with the officials and Jasvir Singh.
"The referee's performance was poor. Jasvir especially was getting aggressive all the time. There were not even 30 seconds left in the match, he got a yellow card then. The referee did not even give us a point after that, he just showed Jasvir a yellow card, what is the use?"
"Jasvir acted like he was the referee and that is absolutely wrong. The referees were terrible today," Anup added.
Anup further explained how a team's confidence takes a huge beating when the referee is not attentive and ends up being wrong in crunch situations. U Mumba's captain admitted that it's difficult to focus on the game when the performance of the officials is so poor.
"When the referee keeps making wrong decisions, as players, our mind is not in the right place. This is the honest truth. When a player does not touch me but the referee still gives the opposition a point, the team's morale gets affected," he explained.
Kumar was specifically upset about a decision not going their way in the first half of the match. Despite the referee choosing to take a T.V review, they still couldn't make the right decision and Anup was absolutely appalled by what transpired on the mat.
"It's very difficult to control yourself and the team during such situations. One of the T.V reviews in the first half was completely wrong. The player did not touch me at all. I have always been honest whenever there is a touch on me. I don't know what the referees were seeing in the review," he said.
U Mumba will next play Bengal Warriors on 6th September in Kolkata.