Pro Kabaddi League 2019 — the seventh edition of kabaddi’s most anticipated tournament — is all set to begin on Saturday (20 July) as the hosts Telugu Titans lock horns with season 2 champions U Mumba in the opening fixture at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad.
With Siddharth Desai joining the Titans’ camp, the Abozar Mighani-led side will start the game with three match-winners on their side in the form of Vishal Bhardwaj, Siddharth Desai and the skipper himself.
Both the teams are heavily dependent on their defensive unit, a number of internal battles, most importantly the match-up between Siddharth Desai and Fazel Atrachali is certain to come to the fore. Post an incredible debut season with U Mumba, Desai will be turning out for the Telugu Titans and could be an ‘X-factor’ against a defence-heavy U Mumba outfit.
Undoubtedly, the encounter will certainly come down to the unit showcasing a better defence but with the Titans coming into the contest with a little bit more experience on the offensive side, they could have a slight edge.
Here are the predicted lineups of both the teams:
Telugu Titans: Vishal Bharadwaj (captain), Abozar Mighani, Siddharth Desai, Armaan, Farhan Milaghardhan, C. Arun and Suraj Desai.
U Mumba: Fazel Atrachali (captain), Sandeep Narwal, Surender Singh, Young Chang Ko, Rohit Baliyan, Athul MS and Abhishek Singh.
Here are the full squads of both the teams:
Telugu Titans Squad 2019: Armaan, Farhad Rahimi Milaghardan, Krushna Madane, Manish, Akash Choudhary, Siddharth Desai, Abozar Mighani, Vishal, Dewitt Jennings, Amit Kumar, C Arun, Suraj Desai, Suraj Kumar, Sombir, Mula Siva Ganesh Reddy, Rakesh Gowda
U Mumba Squad 2019: Fazel Atrachali, Rajaguru Subramanian, Arjun Deshwal, Anil, Gaurav Kumar, Mohit Balyan, Surender Singh, Sandeep Narwal, Rohit Baliyan, Dong Geon Lee, Athul MS, Ajinkya Rohidas Kapre, Young Chang Ko, Abhishek Singh, Vinoth Kumar, Harsh Vardhan, Harendra Kumar