Patna Pirates will take on U Mumba in the Pro Kabaddi League at the the Kankarbagh stadium in Patna on Friday.
The Pirates are playing their second match in two days. Home support and a win in their last game will buoy them. Going into the game against U Mumba, they will need all the confidence they can get.
Mumbai lead the points table by some distance and are yet to lose a game. Undoubtedly they are the favourites heading into this tie. The boys from Patna will seek revenge for an earlier loss against U Mumba in a closely contested match.
The Pirates are neck and neck with Bengaluru Bulls at this stage. Knocking the bulls off the second place would be their aim for now. They do come across as a dangerous side and have fought back well after the losses against U Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers.
Resilience has been a feature in all their three wins. This was especially on view in their matches against Telugu Titans and Dabang Delhi. In both games, they had to fight hard to come out victorious.
Against Pune, they again had to come from behind and find a way to win. While it is clear that they undoubtedly have a lot of steel in them, they can ill-afford to concede a lead against a side like U Mumba. For the Pirates, star player Rakesh Kumar will be key. He performed well in their last game U Mumba, and his side would hope for a repeat show.
It is no surprise that U Mumba lead the table. In their last encounter against Pune, they won 44-28. This was after a convincing win against second placed Bengaluru. At this juncture beating U Mumba would take some doing.
The most aggressive side in the competition, they are led very well by Anup Kumar. However, they could miss the services of star raider Shabeer Bapu Sharfudheen, who injured himself in the last game.
This is a blow undoubtedly but they will not let the injury deter them. Early on in the tournament, they were a little susceptible in defence but now they seem to have sorted out those problems and are serious title contenders.
Increasing their lead is what U Mumba will hope for, whereas for Patna going up the table is of the essence; viewers could be in for a very close match.
Where to Watch Live
Patna Pirates will play U Mumba at 9.00pm. Star Sports will air the match. Live coverage will comence on Star Sports HD 2 from 7.45 pm. This is the link for the live streaming option on starsports.com.
