Match No.105 of the Pro Kabaddi League Season 5 will feature the Tamil Thalaivas locking horns against U Mumba as a part of the Inter-Zone Challenge Week at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai.
The Thalaivas suffered a loss last night against the Jaipur Pink Panthers by a slender margin of just one point and will be on the hunt for a win in tonight's fixture. U Mumba registered a big margin win in their last match against the Bengaluru Bulls back in Delhi.
The Thalaivas have not had a run that they can boast about so far in the league particularly after the dismal start wherein they slumped to a string of losses. But in the recent matches, the team has looked in better shape, even notching up the wins against Bengal and Gujarat.
The attack of the team is led by the skipper, Ajay Thakur and he is supported by the young gun, K Prapanjan. However, alongside these two, the team lacks a quality third raider to ensure that the scoreboard keeps ticking in dire situations as well.
The defence of the team has struggled a bit with the experienced folks in the likes of Amit Hooda and C Arun not being able to bring about any real difference with their few successful tackles. In fact, newbies like D Pradap and Vijay Kumar were more impressive than the two in the last fixture against Jaipur and should be included in the starting seven.
U Mumba, on the other hand, has been performing well after their poor start to the season and will be eager to come out on top against the Tamil Thalaivas. With many of their players returning to the mat in the likes of Joginder Narwal and Shabeer Bapu to be particular, the team will have an edge over their rivals in terms of experience.
Kashiling Adake has been absolutely stellar in the attack given his rampant raiding, especially in the last match where he picked up 17 points. Shrikanth Jadhav has been playing a good role in the capacity of a second raider and has relieved the pressure off Anup Kumar's shoulders. The skipper now focuses more on marshalling his troops well on the mat, plays increasingly as an all-rounder and ensures that he rarely steps out of the game in order to have a command over the proceedings.
The rest of the team comprises of Surinder and Kuldeep Singh in the defence who have largely been successful with their tackles.
Tamil Thalaivas vs U Mumba match prediction
If one has to call the match, it would definitely be in favour U Mumba given the quality and experience of players that will feature in the match against the predominantly young recruits of the Thalaivas. Moreover, it will be difficult for the Tamil defence to keep the rival attack featuring Kashiling Adake, Shrikanth Jadhav, Shabeer Bapu and Anup Kumar at bay.