Fresh start as the season beckons

It was an emotional affair at the Pro Kabaddi League player auction last week for U Mumba to see their captain go to another team. Probably the most highlighted Indian player of this era, Anup Kumar was picked by Jaipur Pink Panthers for just 30 lakhs in an auction where crores were just introduced. Maybe this is what the CEO of U Mumba, Supratik Sen meant before the auction when he said that a complete overhaul was needed.

He was the most successful raider for them last season with 135 points in 21 games but he was not as furious as the Anup from past seasons. He was the skipper of the Mumbai franchise for five seasons. The 34-yearold even guided the team to silverware in 2015. He was the top raider even then with 81 points in 14 games. “I don’’t think there’s team that’s stuck with a captain how we were stuck with Anup Kumar,” said owner Ronnie Screwvala on the first day of the auction. It was moments after he had broken the bank to buy second season hero Fazel Atrachali back for one crore.

However, the level of success kept running down in the last couple of seasons and that forced the management to start afresh. Last season saw U Mumba staggering in the group stages. In a group of six, the team was placed at four failing to qualify for the playoffs.

A New Day
Like Anup, coach E Bhaskaran was also let go by the franchise. The gaffer had led the side in season two. The fans recognized him as their own and he spoke for his players in the best and the worst times.

The appointment of Iranian Gholamreza Mazandarani as coach was only necessary as the management wanted to give him a “clean slate”.  

“The team knows that they need to reinvent itself to stay in the game. Ronnie and I felt that this meant we needed to have a new coach, a new coach’s plan and a new team built from scratch,” says Supratik Sen.

“Therefore, with a new coaches team for PKL Season 6 with  Gholamreza Mazandarani, who has been the Iran Team Captain and now National Team Coach, along with Coach Upendra Mallik from the Indian Army, we wanted to give the coaches a clean slate to start the team process,” he further explains.

A hero returns
In season two, he entered the mat just five times but he made 11 successful tackles in those outings. The team was seeing the rise of a promising defender. And he fulfilled the expectations next season. The left corner of the defense belonged to Fazel who jammed the careless defenders and captured them with his strength till they couldn’t move.

The same man has returned becoming the first player to enter the crore club in PKL auctions. “Fazel is someone who has played with us and we’re happy to have him back,” he said. Well, the Iranian is a ferocious defender on the left corner. The Raiders have to think twice before entering his side of the mat.

The think tank of U Mumba retained just three of their former players - Surender Singh, E Subash, and Shiv Om. Big names Kashiling Adake and promising local lad Shrikant Jadhav move on to other respective teams.

“U Mumba had a great overall run in PKL from Season 1 to 3. Season 4 & 5 had the team looking for answers by not making it to the playoffs,” says Sen.

The new season starts from October 19 and U Mumba will hope to see a change like their squad’s.