The opening match of Dabang Delhi K.C.’s home leg could not have gone any better for the home side. They were excellent on defense and opened out a fantastic lead thanks to Meraj Sheykh’s Super-10 in the first half itself. In fact, Dabang Delhi K.C.’s lead of 29-10 over the Jaipur Pink Panthers was the most any side has led after the first half this season.
From there it was just a matter of time before Delhi came away with the full five points.
For Dabang Delhi K.C. to have a chance a couple of things must happen. Its raiders must continue to play in the good form they have shown in recent times. Naveen Kumar, Meraj Sheykh, and Chandran Ranjit have all done well, with Naveen Kumar being the leader of the offense.
Naveen Kumar will have to do something special, though, to try and eclipse the other star rookie raider in the match, Siddharth Desai.
This is where Ravinder Pahal and Joginder Narwal come in. Dabang Delhi K.C.’s defense must try and find a way to stop Siddharth Desai from running riot. If they can do that, though, then U Mumba can struggle to find a backup raider that has done enough in the tournament to pick up the slack.
U Mumba has had a nice break and will come into this match refreshed. The side is just one point behind the Gujarat Fortunegiants and would dearly love another win here to keep the pressure on them. There is not too much that U Mumba needs to change to win.
Siddharth Desai has over 150 raid points, has the most Super-10’s (9) in the PKL, and is averaging more than a Super-10 every match. He is the one that is going to take the offense to Dabang Delhi K.C. and try to pummel them into submission.
As someone who is redefining the way PKL is played with his brute strength and aggression, Siddharth Desai is a treat to watch. He will have some help from Abhishek Singh and Rohit Baliyan on the offense but it is Siddharth Desai that will be the one making the moves when the pressure is on.
His performance against some experienced Dabang Delhi K.C. defenders is going to decide the outcome of the game.
U Mumba also has some very good defenders itself. Fazel Atrachali has more tackle points than any other player in PKL and leads by example. He is ably supported by Surender Singh who has come into his own over the last few weeks.
The traditional rivalry between Dabang Delhi K.C. and U Mumba is dominated by U Mumba. Out of the 12 matches played between the two sides, U Mumba has won 10 matches. They also defeated Dabang Delhi K.C. quite easily when they met earlier in Pro Kabaddi 6.
Dabang Delhi K.C. is coming into this match on the back of a good win but everything points to U Mumba continuing their dominance over Delhi.
Back U Mumba to win.