Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: 5 reasons why UP Yoddhas can win the title 

#4: Jeeva Kumar leading the defensive charge

Jeeva Kumar plied his trade for U Mumba in the previous seasons.

Experts may look at the UP team and term the absence of lead defenders except for Jeeva Kumar as a weakness, but there's an entire strategy that has gone behind the selection.

Jeeva is a veteran of the game and will be a wall in the defence of the team but has also been given the responsibility of forming an impregnable side with the young defenders that have been picked up at the auctions in the likes of Santosh BS, Hadi Tajik and Nitesh Kumar.

Coach Uday Kumar was quoted as saying to Firstpost in an interview, "We had already scouted good young corner defenders before the auction. So we didn't go for the big names and invested heavily in raiders and the experienced cover defender Jeeva Kumar."