U Mumba produced a stunning comeback from down in the dumps to register a comprehensive 39-32 win over the Jaipur Pink Panthers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai.
Against the Puneri Paltan, U Mumba's Siddharth Desai made a mark with a great show on his debut and facing off against a strong Jaipur defence setup, the youngster was up to the task yet again, finishing with 13 points to his credit while Rohit Baliyan's timely raids also fetched the experienced raider 7 points.
While the match circled around the tagline of 'Anup Kumar v Jaipur', Anup himself did not have the best of starts with the Panthers against his old team while Nitin Rawal top-scored for the Panthers with 8 points.
In a match that swung like a pendulum, Jaipur went into the break with a slender two-point lead which soon swelled to a four-point lead until Fazel Athrachali's men inflicted an all-out just in the nick of time to take the lead and with that, the match as well.
Here are the player ratings from the game.
Jaipur Pink Panthers
Nitin Rawal - 8/10
The young all-rounder was undoubtedly the star of the game for the Panthers as he finished with 8 points, including one point from a terrific tackle that came at an important time for the Panthers.
Anup Kumar - 7/10
Anup looked a pale shadow of himself right throughout the game as he was kept quiet by his old team and although he enjoyed a battle with Fazel Athrachali, his four points from 10 raids highlighted his poor form.
Mohit Chhillar - 6/10
Playing his first season without Surender Nada on the left corner, Mohit Chhillar did not make much of an impact until the second half from which he picked three points, including a super tackle.
Sandeep Dhull - 7/10
The young left corner defender was in his elements in the first half as he kept the U Mumba raiders at bay to pick three points in a row until he slacked off in the end, giving away easy points in the end.
Bajirao Hodage - 6/10
The experienced defender, playing his first season with the Panthers did not have much to contribute on the defensive front as he made two unsuccessful tackles but played a key role in assisting tackles made by the two corners.
Deepak Niwas Hooda - 4/10
Bought for a huge sum of money, Deepak Niwas Hooda was expected to fire on all cylinders but that certainly was not something that happened as on the day, Deepak was kept at bay by Surinder Singh and Fazel Athrachali, which saw him pick just 2 touch points from 11 raids.
Young Chang Ko - 3/10
The Korean defender had nothing to show from the game as the one tackle he made in the early stages was unsuccessful and soon, he was taken off.
SUBSTITUTES
Amit Kumar - 6/10
Amit looked good on the raiding front as he came on and created a few issues for the U Mumba defence. However, on the defensive front, he lacked the discipline, often gifting away easy points.
Ajinkya Pawar - NA
Ajinkya came in just for the one raid where he was thrown to the U Mumba defence on a pressure raid.
U Mumba
Fazel Athrachali - 8/10
Fazel enjoyed a mini battle with Anup Kumar which he won in the end but throughout the game, Fazel ensured that he was on the mat for a majority of the time as he led his team splendidly and in the process, picked up 3 tackle points of his own.
Siddharth Desai - 9/10
The lanky youngster was on top of his game after his positive show against Puneri. Gifted with an ability to travel the court, Desai finished with 13 raid points from 17 raids and was the top raider of the day.
Surender Singh - 6/10
The young defender had mixed results as he affected two tackles but also failed on two other tackles. However, his aggression rubbed off on the entire team that kept them in the hunt throughout.
Abolfazl Maghsoudlou - 4/10
The Iranian, playing his first match of the season had nothing to show from his five raids but showed some promise as he managed to unsettle the opposition defence on a couple of occasions.
Abhishek - 2/10
Primarily a raider, Abhishek put on a poor show as he could pick just the 1 raid point from the seven raids he went in for while a poor error in judgment on the defence front almost cost his team the lead.
Hadi Tajik - 1/10
Hadi went missing from action right throughout the game as he failed to even lay a finger on the opposition raiders and for a right corner, was pretty much in a shell out of which he never came to attack.
SUBSTITUTES
Rohit Baliyan - 8/10
Having lost out on a spot in the starting seven, Rohit Baliyan's addition as a substitute proved to be a masterstroke as the raider made merry against Jaipur, picking 8 points with some very timely ones accounting for his understanding of the game situations.
Vinod Kumar - 8/10
Vinod Kumar was given a chance very late into the encounter but he made his presence felt with an extremely important solo tackle on Nitin Rawal, which cancelled an all-out through the super tackle. In his two raids, Vinod picked one point as well.
Rajguru Subramaniam - 6/10
Rajguru was effective in just two of his four tackles and his dash against Ajay Thakur was Rajguru's top moment.