Pro Kabaddi League 2018: Predicting U Mumba's starting seven for the initial matches
The franchise based out of Mumbai, U Mumba has been one of the most reputed franchises in Pro Kabaddi till date.
Season 2 champions, U Mumba is owned by Unilazer Ventures Pvt. Ltd. owned by Ronnie Screwwala.
Out of 82 matches, U Mumba has won 53 matches, with a 64.63% winning percentage record led by India's finest Kabaddi captain, Anup Kumar.
In Season 5, U Mumba had a raider dominated squad with a less experienced defence. U Mumba till season 4 were noted to have balance in every arsenal of their lineup.
But their new strategy didn't work out pretty well as raiders such as Kashiling Adake, Nitin Madane, and Shabeer Bappu were under the clouds for the majority of the group stages. With a weaker defense, the team failed to qualify for the playoffs as they could only win 10 matches out of 22.
The burden of both raiding and defending was on Anup Kumar. Even in some encounters, Anup was seen playing the left corner position which distracted his raiding mindset most of the times because of which he got only 135 raid points in 21 matches.
U Mumba's newly found turbanator, Surinder Singh debuted in fine fashion to get 58 tackle points in 22 matches but the other defenders couldn't even cross 25 tackle points.
The biggest shocker arrived during the Season 6 auctions when U Mumba parted ways with Anup Kumar and refused to retain him by any means. Having no elite retentions ahead of the tournament, U Mumba decided to retain 3 NYP players ahead of the auctions namely Shiv Om, E Subash and Surinder Singh.
For season 6, U Mumba has signed 20 players ahead of the tournament along with their biggest signing, Fazel Atrachali who was bought for an enormous amount of ₹1 crore. Gholamreza Mazandarani, the first ever foreign coach in Pro Kabaddi will instruct U Mumba for the upcoming event along with Upendra Kumar who'll be the assistant coach. Here's a look to how U Mumba may start their proceedings for the playing 7.
Right Corner: Dharmaraj Cherelathan
Kabaddi's beloved "Anna" is a 43-year-old warrior who's known to tackle young and speedy raiders with his powerful defense. He is a super tackle specialist with 18 super tackles, the most by any defender in Pro Kabaddi history
A versatile player who can adapt in any defensive position whether it be any side of corners or covers, Dharmaraj is known for his thigh holds and beastly blocks. In 77 matches, he has 176 tackle points with an average of 2.29 tackle points per match.
His vast experience in the Pro Kabaddi League is admirable and still, he's one of the exciting defenders to watch out for who'll aid the rock-solid defensive strength of the team.