Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Five talking points from Day 38 of PKL 5

#2 U Mumba’s second line of offence shines

Young Darshan Kadyan has contributed with vital points from time to time

When the squads were announced after the auctions before the season began, U Mumba resembled the Marvel’s Avengers with its bevvy of raiding stars. Anup Kumar was given the support of Shabeer Bapu and Kashiling Adake and the team looked certain to repeat their heroics from the first three seasons. But as it often happens, things didn’t work out to plan and U Mumba really struggled in the first few legs of Season 5, forcing them to change their strategy.

Unfancied names like Shrikant Jadhav and Darshan Kadyan were given chances while Adake and Bapu were made to sit out. The two new entrants didn’t set the stage on fire initially but did enough to get their team management’s faith.

And they are now beginning to repay that faith by turning in performances that matter. On Saturday, unlike other matches, Anup Kumar trusted Adake and Shrikant with the raiding duties and both earned themselves a Super 10. Even Kadyan, who just went in for three raids, got his team two points from those raid attempts. Much of the resurgence of U Mumba in Season 5 has got to do with their second line of offence delivering the goods.