PKL5 Match 55 preview: U Mumba v Jaipur Pink Panthers
Date: 31st August
Time: 9PM IST (4:30PM BST)
Venue: Dome@NSCI SVP Stadium, Mumbai
Zone: A
Form
The second game of the night is a zone A match which sees home side U Mumba take on Jaipur Pink Panthers. Last time Jaipur just edged out U Mumba with a bit of Jasvir magic can U Mumba come back and take revenge?
U Mumba: WLLLL
Jaipur Pink Panthers: WWWLW
(last 5 games most recent first, W = won, D = draw, L = lost)
Match Prediction
U Mumba played well against Haryana Steelers but their defence was still shaky. Since Jaipur have a better raiding side they are going to really trouble U Mumba especially with a makeshift defence. Although Jaipur are not without injuries themselves and without Manjeet in defence the U Mumba raiders can really take advantage. Shrikant Jadav has been fantastic since he has came into the side and with Anup and Kashi there too there’s no shortage of raid points. But if U Mumba want to win they have to stop making mistakes in defence especially from Surinder and Renjith although Hadi Oshtorak will probably come back in for Renjith.
Jaipur have done really well considering they are without Manjeet Chhillar and Selvamani K, the young guys that have come in have impressed especially in defence, with Pawan Kumar and Nitin Rawal doing really well on the raid. Jasvir has been his usual cunning self winning games by picking up as many empty raids as possible. This time they will have to keep a very good raiding department quiet and the game lies on the Jaipur defence performing well. If they can pin down Anup and co then Jasvir will ensure that they will win.
U Mumba have started games well recently so I expect them to take a lead and then control the game, but this is exactly what Jaipur will look to do as well, but I think U Mumba may edge this one.
Prediction: U Mumba 35-30 Jaipur Pink Panthers
Players To Watch
- For U Mumba their star raider is Anup Kumar who has 60 raid points in 10 matches, but they also have Kashiling Adake who has 36 raid points in 10 matches.
- In defence Kuldeep has been impressive of late especially with his ankle holds scoring 19 tackle points in 10 matches, the majority of these coming in the last 4 games.
- For Jaipur Pink Panthers Jasvir is a cunning raider and doesn’t give too much away but he’s quick and great at bringing out mistakes from the defence, no wonder he has picked up 34 raid points in just 6 matches.
- In defence Sunil Siddhgavali has 6 tackle points in 2 matches and Santhapanaselvam has 11 tackle points in 5 matches, both of these have done well recently and will look to continue their form.
Team News and Predicted Line-ups
U Mumba swapped Renjith for Hadi Oshtorak last time, but with Renjith making a lot of mistakes I expect Hadi to return in his place. Shabeer should be fit by now but I think he will be rested for now.
No update on Manjeet Chhillar or Selvamani K as of yet, but initial reports suggest Manjeet will still be sidelined for another week and Selvamani K has a more serious injury and will take longer to recover although Jaipur expect him to be fit before the end of the season.
U Mumba: Surinder Singh, Anup Kumar (C), Shrikant Jadav, Kashiling Adake, Kuldeep Singh, Darshan Kadian, Hadi Oshtorak (✈️).
Jaipur Pink Panthers: Pawan Kumar, Jasvir Singh (C), Sunil Siddhgavali, Somvir Shekhar, Sidharth, Santhapanaselvam, Nitin Rawal.