Pro Kabaddi 2019: Predicting the starting 7 for U Mumba

Pro Kabaddi 2019 is set to commence on 20th July 2019 as the hosts Telugu Titans will take on U Mumba in the opening game of the seventh edition which will take place in the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad.

U Mumba, a franchise from Maharashtra won the Pro Kabaddi trophy back in the second season and also features in the finals in season one and season three. They were eliminated at the end of the group stages in the fourth and fifth season but in season 6, U Mumba were successful in making their entry into the playoffs.

Their home leg will commence from 27th July in Mumbai and will end on 2nd August. In the Season 7 auctions, U Mumba signed 16 players apart from Fazel Atrachali, Rajaguru Subramanian, Surinder Singh, and Arjun Deshwal, who were all retained by the franchise.

Sandeep Narwal (₹89 lakh), Abhishek Singh (₹10 lakh) and Rohit Baliyan (₹35 lakh), Dong Geon Lee, Athul MS were the highlight purchases for U Mumba. Indian Railways coach Sanjeev Kumar Baliyan will essay the role of the head coach for U Mumba.

Here is a look at how U Mumba could line up for the first match of the season.

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Right Corner: Sandeep Narwal

Can the beast come to his own for U Mumba?

Fondly referred to as 'The Beast from the East', Sandeep Narwal is one of the best all-rounders of Pro Kabaddi. He is a player who can turn the tables at any moment in the game. Sandeep debuted with the Patna Pirates back in the inaugural season of Pro Kabaddi and also played a crucial role in Patna's PKL triumph in season 3.

Sandeep's services were snapped up by the Telugu Titans for season 4 before he moved to Puneri Paltan for season 5 and played two seasons for them. He has a total of 229 raid points from 101 matches apart from 254 tackle points at an average of 2.51 tackle points per game.

Sandeep Narwal also holds the record for the most super tackles by any player in the history of the league (23). Sandeep blocks the raiders with his upper body force, dashes the raiders out of the court and in the offense, his biggest strength is his ability to jump over the chain.

With U Mumba slightly weak on the raiding front, Sandeep could be expect to assume a little more of a raiding duty as well.

Right In: Athul MS

Athul MS shifted to U Mumba from Tamil Thalaivas.

Having started his Pro Kabaddi career with the Telugu Titans, Athul MS was not a regular part of their starting seven of PKL 4, playing only four matches for the franchise.

His performance earned the spotlight when he became the second-highest raid points scorer for Tamil Thalaivas, only behind Ajay Thakur, with 55 raid points in 19 matches. Hailing from Kerala, Athul has performed exceptionally as a back-up raider and usually comes off the bench to score vital points for his team.

Athul was a member of Kerala's' squad of the Senior State Championship in 2016 and 2019. He is an expert in scoring running hand touches swiftly. As he is a tall raider, he primarily uses his pace and sudden changes in direction to his advantage.

U Mumba might use him in crunch situations of do-or-die raids. He will have to play his role of secondary raider efficiently to book his place in Mumba's starting seven.

Right Cover: Surinder Singh

Surinder Singhs' role will be crucial in the defense.

Hailing from Himachal, Surinder Singh is one of the most fearless and dynamic defenders of the Pro Kabaddi League. U Mumba picked him from New Young Players' pool of Future Kabaddi Heroes graduates in season 5.

He put up an impressive performance with U Mumba in his debut season. He picked up 58 tackle points from 22 matches and formed a potent parternship with the rest of the defense unit. In PKL 6, Surinder Singh scored 62 tackle points in 22 matches and finished as one of the best right covers, in terms of points scored.

Surinder has a uunique skill set with a perfect mix of waist holds, dives, body blocks, and dashes from the right cover position. He can also execute diving holds from the right corner and is a versatile defender with the luxury of playing at any given place.

The combination of Fazel Atrachali - Surinder Singh will yet again be in focus as U Mumba will depend on their defensive unit to go all the way this season.

Center: Rohit Baliyan

Rohit Baliyan will lead the raiding attack of U Mumba in PKL 7.

Rohit Baliyan was part of the Telugu Titans when he made his debut in Pro Kabaddi League season 2. He did not get enough chances in that season and made an impression in the next season, scoring 54 raid points in 12 games.

He missed the Pro Kabaddi season 4 with the Bengaluru Bulls owing to injury. While playing for Dabang Delhi K.C. in season 5, Rohit accumulated 65 raid points in 17 matches and these numbers were the most by any Indian player in the team.

In PKL 6, Rohit was the second best raider for U Mumba as he notched up 94 raid points in from 19 matches at an average of 4.94 raid points per match.

Rohit Baliyan is an expert in using running kicks where he shuffles across the court and executes them on the corner defender. He is a former player at the Indian Railways who has immense experience in the game and can contribute well in the Do or Die raids as well.

Left Cover: Young Chang Ko

Young Chang Ko is seen attempting a dash

Young Chang Ko is the first South Korean player to have scored a High 5 in Pro Kabaddi. He is an Asian Games 2018 Silver Medalist, who was impressive in the Kabaddi World Cup 2016, Asian Kabaddi Championship 2017 and Asian Games 2018.

Young Chang Ko made his Pro Kabaddi debut with Bengal Warriors back in season 5 but scored only two tackle points. He shifted to Jaipur Pink Panthers in season 6 and established himself as a Super Tackle specialist. Slotting into the left cover position, Chang Ko picked up 15 tackle points from 13 matches, including four Super Tackles.

Chang Ko's biggest strength is his ability to dive and stop the raider in his tracks. He assists the other defenders very fluently and gives them much needed support from his left cover position. The team management will heavily rely on the Korean defender to strike right from the opening game.

Left In: Abhishek Singh

Abhishek debuted with U Mumba in PKL 6.

Abhishek Singh marked his Pro Kabaddi debut with U Mumba in the previous season. He had a decent PKL debut, scoring 43 raid points in 15 matches, including two important Super 10s.

With the likes of Siddharth Desai and Rohit Baliyan in the team, Abhishek made only sporadic appearances and though his numbers did not paint a pretty picture, his skill was on display right through the season with some fantastic raids and fearless tackles to go with it.

He has a plethora of raiding skills like running hand touches and jumps over the defenders. His quick reflexes allow him to score touchpoints swiftly. U Mumba will bank on Abhishek as a secondary raider, who will need to give immense support to Rohit Baliyan.

Undoubtedly, Abhishek Singh will play a key role in U Mumba's raiding department in the seventh edition of the Pro Kabaddi League.

Left Corner: Fazel Atrachali

Fazel took his team into the playoffs in PKL 6.

Known as the 'Sultan' in kabaddi circles, Iranian skipper Fazel Atrachali is one of the best left corner defenders in the history of the sport. Fazel Atrachali is the only foreign player to have over two hundred tackles points in the history of Pro Kabaddi.

This Asiad Gold medalist started his journey with U Mumba back in season 2 but soon moved out to the Patna Pirates as he did not cement a spot in the U Mumba setup.

Fazel finished as the leading defender with 52 points from 16 games in season 3 which helped the Patna Pirates win their first title. He performed better in season 5 with 57 tackle points from 24 games for the Gujarat Fortunegiants.

For season 6, the Iranian was snapped up by U Mumba for a record sum of ₹1 crore, making him the first ever foreign crorepati in the league. He captained U Mumba and led them from the front, with 83 tackle points from 23 matches that saw his side enter the playoffs.

Fazel's biggest strength is his high-quality waist holds that are a mixture of skills from the field of wrestling. His powerful body blocks have become his trademark move and with each passing season, Fazel has improvised his game and tally of tackle points.

For season 7, Fazel will team up with Sandeep Narwal at U Mumba and the Iranian will hope to bring his side the title glory.