After struggling in the last two seasons, U Mumba are eyeing a comeback in the Pro Kabaddi League. The teams looks good on paper and the players will look to perform well on the mat in the upcoming season that gets underway from 2nd December 2023.
The team has familiar names like Surinder Singh, Guman Singh and Rinku. At the auction, they also bought experienced names like Mahender Singh and Girish Ernak. InsideSport analyses the squad ahead of the upcoming season.
Also Read: Pro Kabaddi League: Team Report Card – Rating all squads in PKL 2023
Strength
U Mumba have a strong defending department that looks menacing. The team already retained experienced defender Surinder Singh before the auction this year. Rinku, who was the team’s best raider in the last two seasons was also retainded.
At the auction they bought the experienced Mahender Singh and Girish Ernak that further bolsters the department. There is enough experience and there is also depth with youngsters like Shivansh Thakur being part of the side.
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Weakness
While the defence is pretty strong, the same cannot be said of the raiding department. After releasing Guman Singh, U Mumba went back to him at the auction and picked him up for 85 lakhs.
His performance wasn’t up to the mark in the last edition as he managed just 137 raid points. He will have to step up and give a much better performance.
Jai Bhagwan too was able to score only 75 raid points. He will also have to improve his show and lend a solid support to Guman Singh. They have one X-factor in Iranian Alireza Mirzaien. However he will be playing for the first time in the league.
Opportunity
This season will give an opportunity for a young Iranian raider to make his mark in the league. Alireza Mirzaeian grabbed the eyeballs at the Asian Kabaddi Championships this year. He finished as Iran’s best raider in the tournament.
With Iranian coach Gholamreza Mazandarani all set to coach U Mumba this season, he has bought the 19-year old raider for 16.10 lakhs at the auction. If Mirzaeian makes a mark immediately in his maiden season, it will also solve U Mumba’s raiding issues.
Apart from Mirzaien, another young Iranian in Amirmohamed Zafardanesh also was bagged at the auction for 68.08 lakhs. The young all-rounder also gave an impressive performance at the Asian Games. He is also regarded highly and it remains to be seen how he repays the faith when he gets the opportunity to play in the upcoming season.
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Threat
The problem for U Mumba over the last few seasons has been the inconsistent form of the players. Players like Guman Singh, Haiderali Ekrami and Surinder Singh haven’t really fired and dominated with their performances.
A lot will be expected of them in the upcoming season as well. With lot of youngsters in the side, the experienced pros need to be consistent with their form.
U Mumba – Squad
Raiders: Jai Bhagwan, Haiderali Ekrami, Guman Singh, Alireza Mirzaeian, Pranay Rane, Rupesh, Sachin, Shivam Thakur, Rohit Yadav, Kunal BhatiAll-Rounders: Amirmohamed Zafardanesh, Saurav Parthi, V VishwanathDefenders: Rinku, Surender Singh, Mahender Singh, Girish Ernak, Shivansh Thakur, Somveer Goswami, Mukilan Shanmugam, M Gokulakannan, Bittu Banwala
