Pro Kabaddi League 2018 Match 29, U Mumba v Telugu Titans: Player Ratings
Siddharth Desai's 17-point effort stole the show as U Mumba trounced Telugu Titans to win 41-20 and bounced back to winning ways at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune.
On a day when Rahul Chaudhari penned his name down as the first player to cross the 700-raid point mark, Siddharth Desai's performance overshadowed the landmark, which was evident by the absence of a smile on Rahul Chaudhari's face, wounded by the lack of cohesion in the Titans unit on the day.
One of the biggest factors that contributed to that lack of cohesion was the Abozar Mighani-shaped void in the team, which was due to be filled by Sombir. However, the right corner had a tough day at the office and was given cold stares on more than just the one occasion by skipper Vishal Bharadwaj as the former tackled and dived, only to give away easy points to Desai.
Such was Desai's dominance that the next best show was Fazel Athrachali's four tackle points as the U Mumba skipper ensured that the Titans' raiders were kept at bay. The bonus points from Salunke, the aggression from Vishal Bharadwaj all went missing as the Titans succumbed to a massive 21-point loss in the end.
Here are the player ratings from this match.
Telugu Titans
Vishal Bharadwaj - 5.5/10
The Titans skipper seemed unsettled by Desai's proficiency and was often seen going in for advanced ankle or back holds which did not help his cause as he finished with just a solitary point from the game.
Rahul Chaudhari - 7/10
The lead raider in the team was constantly under the pump and although he did manage to pick up seven points, Rahul's inconsistency hurt the team's cause.
Farhad Milagardhan - 6.5/10
Farhad's glory moment came when his solo block on Siddharth Desai with only two defenders on the mat kept the U Mumba man in the Titans half, also adding two points to his tally with the super tackle. Apart from that, Farhad was patchy but did not gift away easy points.
Anil Kumar - 6/10
The left cover defender was unlike his busy self as he made only three tackles but ensured that he picked two points from a total of three tackles.
Mohsen Maghsoudlou - 5.5/10
The all-rounder was off-colour in the game as he failed to bring his all-round game to the fore and picked just two raid points while also giving away free points to the U Mumba raiders in the second half.
Nilesh Salunke - 4/10
The crafty raider failed to show up when it was most needed as he picked up just one bonus point and also put in three unwanted tackles that took the game away from the Titans.
Sombir - 3/10
Faced with the challenge of filling the big void left by Abozar Mighani, Sombir was drafted into the squad but was the main target for Desai, who did well to escape from the right corner's clutches on three occasions.
SUBSTITUTES
Armaan - 5/10
The youngster's pace and aggression initially induced an error from Fazel as the U Mumba skipper stepped off the court. However, the youngster failed to pick a single point later, going into too deep and finishing as easy meat for the U Mumba defenders.