Pro Kabaddi League 2018 | Match 54: U Mumba vs Jaipur Pink Panthers Review | 09 November 2018

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U Mumba, the team. Fazel Atrachali, Captain of U Mumba in strategy planning. [Picture Courtesy: ProKabaddi.com]

U Mumba was taking on Jaipur Pink Panthers in the opening match of their home leg and was raring to start their campaign with a victory. Anup Kumar led Jaipur Pink Panthers would be looking at Deepak Niwas Hooda to carry them over the finish line by repeating his super 10 led performance from the last match.

Playing 7:

U Mumba – Abhishek Singh, Darshan Kadian, Vinod Kumar, Fazel Atrachali, Rohit Rana, Surender Singh, Dharmaraj Cheralathan.

Jaipur Pink Panthers – Deepak Hooda, Anup Kumar, Young Chang Ko, Selvamani K, Mohit Chhillar, Nitin Rawal, Sunil Siddhgavali.

Substitutes:

Anil, Rohit Baliyan, and Siddharth Desai from U Mumba. Anand Patil, Sandeep Dhull, Amit Kumar, Lokesh Kaushik, and Santhapanaselvam from Jaipur Pink Panthers.

Toss:

Toss won by Fazel Atrachali from U Mumba who chose choice court.

Deepak Niwas Hooda in a raid. [Picture Courtesy: ProKabaddi.com]

As expected, Anup Kumar, captain of Jaipur Pink Panthers opened the account by executing a successful raid. In the absence of their star raider, Siddharth Desai, Abhishek Singh was leading the U Mumba raiding department.

Four minutes into the game, U Mumba captain, Fazel Atrachali took down Anup Kumar. This just showed how well prepared U Mumba was to take on the Jaipur Pink Panthers on the first night of their home leg. At the 8-minute mark, Darshan Kadian, came alive snatching  2 points for the home team. In the very next raid, U Mumba inflicted the first all-out of the night for the Panthers by taking a touch point on the last man standing, Young Chang Ko. Mumbai was rolling and Pink Panthers had their task cut out.

U Mumba started with a stellar performance indeed. It was not even 10 minutes in the game and the entire Pink Panthers had been washed off the mat once, taking the score to 10-3. The right corner from Jaipur Pink Panthers, Mohit Chillar, in desperate attempts to take a point from U Mumba ended up giving away a point by crossing the mid-line while tackling a raider.

Fazel Atrachali continued to show his sheer power on his home turf by executing back to back tackles on Deepak Hooda and Lokesh Kaushik, leaving only 1 man standing on the mat for the Panthers, 6 minutes before halftime. The Panthers saw their 2nd all-out of the night in the very next raid. 

The score was 19-4 with U Mumba cruising.

U Mumba continued to further sizzle on the mat until halftime, pushing the score to 26-8. 

Fazel Atrachali while taking down a Pink Panther raider. [Picture Courtesy: ProKabaddi.com]

Jaipur Pink Panthers should’ve picked up their strength and game, and played more as a team against this well-rounded team from the financial capital of India.

The second half began with a bang when Darshan Kadian picked up a point leaving only 2 men on the mat from the Pink Panthers. Deepak Hooda on the very next raid got tackled too, inflicting the 3rd all-out with the home crowd cheering on cloud nine.

Six minutes into the second half, the Pink Panthers started playing on the do-or-die raids but neither did that work. With 10 minutes remaining, the Pink Panthers took a super tackle on Abhishek Singh, picking 2 points followed by Deepak Hooda taking 2 points from a successful raid. The score became 38-18, U Mumba still leading.

Five minutes before the game end, Fazel Atrachali scored a High-5 and Abhishek Singh, a Super-10. With 3 minutes remaining, Young Chan Ko tried to blind-side tackle a U Mumba raider but with lack of support from his teammates ended up in the fourth all-out for his own team. The writing was already on the wall.

Anand Patil from Pink Panthers executed a Toofani Super Raid and scored 3 points for the Panthers adding some respectability to the scoreline. With just 90 seconds remaining on the clock, Siddharth Desai walked into the loud applause from the home supporters. The home fans were delighted to see their star man back on the court.

Anup Kumar, Captain Jaipur Pink Panther in action with his team. [Picture Courtesy: ProKabaddi.com]

U Mumba defeated Pink Panthers by 48-24, basking in glory by winning the very first match on their home turf. It was sheer dominance from the home team. This victory is all the more important as it came in the absence of their star raider Sidharth Desai. Darshan Kadian and Abhishek Singh picked up raiding points on regular basis and were ably supported by Fazel Atrachali in defense.

U Mumba will have more stern tests in their upcoming matches, but as of now, they will revel in this well-earned victory that pushes them to the Zone A summit. Jaipur Pink Panthers' campaign so far has been absolutely disappointing especially with stars like Anup Kumar, Deepak Hooda and Mohit Chillar in their ranks. They have to start winning some matches soon or else forget about their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs.

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