The 54th match of the Pro Kabaddi League 2016 is the most crucial game this season for Telugu Titans. A win can give them a slight hope of qualifying to the semi finals, but a loss can dash all their hopes of progressing to the next round.
Telugu Titans have an actual herculean task, to be honest, on Tuesday. They take on defending champions U Mumba at the NSCI, Mumbai.
The result on paper is very much predictable but the Titans know that they somehow have to give their all to pick up the five points. Puneri Paltan, Telugu Titans and Bengal Warriors are the three teams fighting for the remaining two spots in the Pro Kabaddi League 2016 semi-finals.
U Mumba and Patna Pirates have already made their progress to the next round.
The Mumbai side bagged a three-point win over Puneri Paltan on Monday to continue their impressive form this season. The defending champions are currently on 20 points with two league games remaining this season. They have won all their eight previous fixtures.
Telugu Titans, meanwhile, come into this game at the back of a 42-41 victory over Patna Pirates in Mumbai. The Titans joined U Mumba in the process to be the second team to get a win over the Pirates in the league phase this season.
Rahul Chaudhary led from the front for the Telugu Titans against the Pirates. He bagged a whopping 14 raid points and the performance from the skipper also helped Rohit Baliyan to put a good show in the raiding department.
The experience of the duo will be crucial against U Mumba and they know they have to go for the kill now. For the Mumbai side, Anup Kumar and Rishank Devadiga remained consistent, while Rakesh Kumar also stepped up his performance for the team to notch the victory at home against Puneri Paltan.
Squads: U Mumba – Anup Kumar (C), Anoop EV, Prapanjan, Masayuki Shimokava, Pawan Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Rishank Devadiga, Shabeer Bapu, Suresh Kumar, Vinod Paulyas, Jeeva G, Jeeva Kumar, Mohit Chhillar, Surender Nada, Vishal Mane, Bhupendra Singh, Jawahar Vivek, Abolfazel M, Fazel Atrachali, Hadi Tajik, Ravi Kumar.
Telugu Titans – Rahul Chaudhary (C), Dharmaraj C, Isaac Anthony, Prashanth Kumar, Rohit Baliyan, Sukesh Hegde, Yosuke Sasaki, Rahul Kumar, Vikas Kale, Wasim Sajjad, D Gopu, Manoj Kumar, Kalimuthu B, Mehraj Sheykh, Ravit Kumar, T Prasad.
Previous encounter: Telugu Titans 25-27 U Mumba
Where to watch live:
The match between U Mumba and Telugu Titans will begin at 9 p.m. IST (3:30 p.m. GMT) Tuesday, March 1.
Pro Kabaddi League 2016: U Mumba vs Telugu Titans can be caught LIVE on the Star Sports Network.
Hindi Coverage - Star Gold
English Coverage - Star Sports 2, Star Sports HD 2
Telugu Coverage - Maa Movies
Kannada Coverage - Suvarna Plus
UK viewers can catch the action on Life OK
Live streaming will be available on Hotstar and Starsports.com