Video: Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: U Mumba's Shabeer Bapu produces best raid of the season against UP Yoddha
It was a fantastic day of Pro Kabaddi action in Lucknow on Friday, with the opening match witnessing a defeat for the home side at the hands of the Season 2 champions. UP Yoddha, despite a rapid start and an inspired performance by star raider Rishank Devadiga, lost out to U Mumba in a high-scoring end-to-end encounter that ended 37-34.
There were some brilliant raiding skills on display as Rishank picked up a whopping 14 raid points and Nitin Tomar picking up seven of his own. For the away side, captain Anup Kumar won eight raid points, out of which five were bonus ones, and Shabeer Bapu played a starring role as he rolled back the years and picked up 12 raid points.
The veteran raider holds the distinction of having played every Pro Kabaddi final so far and was part of the U Mumba side that won the title in Season 2, but was picked up by the Jaipur Pink Panthers in Season 4. He returns to Mumbai for the new season and provided the moment of the match that left fans awestruck.
Also read: Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Five talking points from Day 19 of PKL 5
Early in the second half, U Mumba trailed by one point at 17-16, when Shabeer came up with a superb raid that changed the course of the match. Raiding from the left, he was met by a powerful body block and was grabbed by another defender from the back.
However, he somehow managed to get under the tackle and amass some incredible strength to fling his left arm forward. By the tightest of margins, he managed to get his fingertips a few inches across the midline and that too on the second attempt. The Yoddha reviewed the call but to no avail!
It was the kind of moments that stay in people's memories for a long, long time as the raider used every last muscle to somehow cross the line.
You can watch the video here!