Mumbai, Aug 18 (IANS) Pro Kabaddi League season 2 champions U Mumba will be aiming to get their hands on the PKL title once again in Season 12, starting on August 29.
Led by captain Sunil Kumar, U Mumba finished the last campaign with 12 wins in 22 games to qualify for the PKL Playoffs after three seasons. However, their fruitful season came to an end when they went down to the Patna Pirates in Eliminator 2.
Despite qualifying for the PKL Season 11 Playoffs, U Mumba announced that head coach Gholamreza Mazandarani will not continue for the upcoming season and named Anil Chaprana as their new head coach for PKL Season 12.
Chaprana had earlier served as the head coach of U Mumba and was replaced by Gholamreza Mazandarani in 2022. He later worked as an assistant coach to Narender Redhu at Patna Pirates for one season. He returned to U Mumba as an assistant coach during PKL Season 11 and helped the team qualify for the Playoffs for the first time since 2019.
Meanwhile, U Mumba have retained their core that guided them to the PKL Season 11 Playoffs and further invested Rs 4.905 crore to sign eight players at the Season 12 Player Auction to assemble a formidable squad.
With that in mind, let’s assess the strengths and weaknesses of U Mumba ahead of the new campaign.
Strengths: Retention of Key Players
Ahead of the PKL Season 12 Player Auction, U Mumba managed to retain most of their players from last season.
Captain Sunil Kumar, left raider Ajit Chouhan, right raider Satish Kannan, left corners Deepak Kundu and Lokesh Ghosliya, left covers Sunny and Mukilan Shanmugam, plus all-rounders Amir Mohammad Zafardanesh and Rohit were retained by the team management for PKL Season 12.
Mumboys’ strong defensive unit
U Mumba’s formidable defence is likely to be one of their biggest strengths heading into the upcoming Pro Kabaddi season. Skipper Sunil Kumar will once again lead U Mumba’s defence in Season 12. Considered one of the top defenders in the league, Sunil Kumar currently features fifth on the leaderboard for most tackle points (390) in PKL history.
Apart from Sunil, U Mumba used their FBM card for Rs 25.10 lacs for one season to retain left cover Parvesh Bhainswal. U Mumba re-signed Parvesh after he contributed with 38 tackle points in 23 matches and was one of their key players in their defence last season.
Rinku (right corner), Lokesh Ghosliya (left corner), Deepak Kundu (left corner), Sunny (left cover), Mukilan Shanmugam (left cover) and Ravi (right cover) are the other defensive options in their squad.
Acquisition of Aanil Mohan
Additionally, U Mumba have bolstered their squad by securing the signature of talented all-rounder Aanil Mohan for a whopping Rs 78 lacs to make him the most expensive player from Category D in PKL history. Widely regarded as one of the top young prospects in the Indian kabaddi circuit, Aanil could emerge as a game-changer for the PKL Season 2 winners in Season 12.
Weaknesses: Departure of Manjeet
Even though their attack looks decent on paper, the most glaring weakness for U Mumba is the departure of their former lead raider Manjeet Dahiya, who has joined two-time PKL champions Jaipur Pink Panthers at the recently concluded auction. With 730 raid points to his name, U Mumba could miss the experience of Manjeet in their squad.
Lack of experience in left corner positions
Another area of concern for U Mumba is the inexperience in the left corner positions. Lokesh Ghosliya and Deepak Kundu are the two options in that position for the Mumbai-based side. While Lokesh has played 11 PKL matches, Deepak has featured in only two games so far.
Opportunities: Huge moment for Anil Chaprana
The team showed its faith in Anil Chaprana and promoted him from assistant coach to head coach for PKL Season 12.
Along with former head coach Gholamreza Mazandarani, Anil Chaprana played a pivotal role as an assistant coach in Season 11 to help U Mumba secure PKL Playoffs qualification after three editions.
Opportunity for Ajit to stake claim as lead raider
U Mumba’s rising star Ajit Chouhan took Pro Kabaddi Season 11 by storm after he emerged as one of the leading raiders on his PKL debut season. Having displayed incredible skills, speed and strength, the youngster accumulated 185 raid points in 23 matches to help U Mumba qualify for the PKL Season 11 Playoffs. With the departure of Manjeet, Ajit will have the opportunity to cement his place as U Mumba’s lead raider in Season 12.
Time for youngsters to shine
U Mumba have several talented youngsters who will aim to hog the limelight in the forthcoming season. The likes of Aanil Mohan, Lokesh Ghosliya, Deepak Kundu, Mukilan Shanmugam, Amarjeet and Ravi will look to grab their opportunities to stake a claim for U Mumba’s starting 7.
Threats: Overall inexperience of their squad
One of the biggest threats that U Mumba will be worried about is the overall inexperience of their squad. The Anil Chaprana-coached side has several players who are yet to make their PKL debut, and a few of them have only played a handful of games and are yet to establish themselves in the league.
Lack of an experienced raider
With the departure of Manjeet, U Mumba could be overly reliant on their 20-year-old raider Ajit Chouhan, in PKL Season 12. While Ajit showcased his immense potential in Season 11, it will be interesting to see if he can continue his stellar form in the upcoming season.
–IANS
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