Wish to open home campaign on right note like Gujarat, says U Mumba’s Anup Kumar

ARRIVING IN MUMBAI along with Ganpati celebrations, U Mumba is hoping that the auspiciousness of the season transcends to the team as they start their home leg of Season 5 of VIVO Pro Kabaddi League on the 25th of August at the SVP Dome NSCI in Mumbai.

Having played 6 matches away, with an equal number of wins and losses, at home Mumbai will look to start in the positive on opening night. Expanding on the need for a win on the opening night, Coach E Bhaskaran while addressing the press shared, 

“Playing six matches at a go is not a pressure situation for us. It is all about the first game, if we perform and do well, we will all gain confidence to move ahead. The initial momentum is very crucial during the home stretch.” 

Adding to  coach’s sentiments was Captain of U Mumba, Anup Kumar who added,

“It is all about getting that first match right. If you see Gujarat, their home stretch has been very good in terms of performance. This is largely because they started on the right note.  Our first match is against Jaipur and if we do well there, I know that the team will capitalize on that first win and use that as a motivation for the rest.”

With four legs of 12 legs of Season 5 by the time the caravan arrives in Mumbai, while a strong start will be critcal, every match through the leg will be as important. Supratik Sen, CEO U Sports was quick to point out that, this home leg will also mark the midway point for the team this season. He said, 

“I think the next six games are going to be very crucial, because by the end of it we would have played twelve games which will mark the mid-point of our campaign and we would be able to know where we stand.  We will know how much more we need to improve or perform and so we will give our home games, our best shot.”

While the team’s strategy for the home leg seems to start and build on positive momentum, team owner Ronnie Screwvala, stressed on the league being extremely competitive and all teams being equally matched-up, stating,  

“We have seen four cities, with four very different performances, which may all change again. For instance while Gujarat has done well Telugu and UP have faltered at home, so while there may be variations in results we should all keep in mind that each team plays 22 games, therefore to decide where we are, where we go is still going to take some time.”

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