U Mumba continue quest for maiden home win against rampaging Gujarat

Matchday 28 of VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 5 at the Dome@NSCI SVP Stadium promises fans some exciting action as all four teams will be looking to prove a point. Bengaluru Bulls will be hoping to put Sunday’s loss against Bengal Warriors behind them and get back to winning ways against U.P. Yoddha, who will want to cement their place at the top of the Zone B leaderboard. In the Zone A encounter, U Mumba will look to turn the tides against a strong Gujarat Fortunegiants side and win their first home game of the season in four matches.

MATCH 51 (Zone B) Bengaluru Bulls vs U.P. Yoddha

Head-to-head: Bengaluru Bulls 0–1 U.P. Yoddha

The last time these two sides met the Nitin Tomar-Rishank Devadiga combination outdid the Rohit Kumar-Ajay Kumar pairing and managed to secure victory for U.P. Yoddha in Nagpur. The U.P. raiders are in fine form, especially Devadiga, but the defence, led by Jeeva Kumar, has been looking vulnerable of late, which the Bengaluru raiders might try to exploit. After a poor home leg, it’s imperative that the Yoddha improve their performances a few notches.

The Bengaluru Bulls quest to find a second raider to consistently support Rohit has failed so far and that has hurt the team in view of their six losses in 10 matches. In defence, Ravinder Pahal has been a lone star for the Bulls but he may be under pressure to perform after picking up a red card on Sunday and against an aggressive side like U.P. Yoddha it might make a big difference. Both teams are desperate do well at this stage of the league.

MATCH 52 (Zone A) U Mumba vs Gujarat Fortunegiants

Head-to-head: U Mumba 0–1 Gujarat Fortunegiants

Both teams have had contrasting home fortunes. While Gujarat dominated their home leg and remained unbeaten, U Mumba suffered their third straight home loss on Sunday to Dabang Delhi K.C., and have been having a tough time getting over the line in spite of coming close.

The lack of experience in defence has been hurting U Mumba throughout their campaign. They have not been able to hold their own when brought under pressure by opposition raiders, which has meant they end up squandering early leads on many occasions. A lot will depend on Surinder Singh and Hadi Oshtorak on Tuesday. The absence of the experienced Shabeer Bappu has also held the team back in crunch situations.

Gujarat have already beaten Mumbai once earlier in the season and having been undefeated in their last seven matches, they head into the contest as firm favourites.

Catch the action live on the Star Sports network and hotstar from 7.30 pm onwards.