If you consider Bollywood’s approach towards revamping old content and giving it a new age touch, be it remaking old films or music, the new age dynamics are always spoken about, at times in negative light or mostly in positive. When it comes to sports, one of the oldest and traditional sports in India has been ‘Kabaddi’. When Kabaddi was revamped in India, we saw the inception and rise of the Pro Kabaddi League.
Pro Kabaddi League happened! This remix of the traditional sport has seen widespread acclaim and now in its 7th season, Vivo Pro Kabaddi League has made the sport of Kabaddi popular again. Kick-started in 2014, Pro Kabaddi League uses a franchise-based model and its first season saw competition with eight teams going head-to-head, and it ended with U Mumba and Jaipur Pink Panthers competing in the finale. Taking inspiration from 2006 Asian Games and re-introducing the ancient sport, India witnessed a rise of a sport in its full volume.
But there is something about the Mumbai’s franchise, U Mumba, which makes the team strong. Over the many seasons, the U Mumba has performed well. Currently led by Fazel Atrachali, an Iranian player, the team is owned by Unilazer Ventures Pvt. Ltd which is owned by Ronnie Screwvala.
U Mumba was a part of the PKL set up right from the beginning and made it to the final in 2014 to face Jaipur Pink Panthers which watched by around 86.4 million but unfortunately, U Mumba finished runners up to the team owned by Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan.
The team from Mumbai made amends in the next season in 2015 by defeating Bengaluru Bulls in the final.
Later next season in 2016 (January), U Mumba lived up to favourites in PKL and made their third successive final before eventually ending as runner's up, as they were defeated by Patna Pirates by a narrow margin despite a comeback in the second half of the final. U Mumba after successful three seasons lost their magic a bit after a number of players left the side and the team didn't manage to qualify for the playoffs till the 2018-19 season.
During the 2018-19 season, U Mumba ended the league stage with dominant wins and the highest score difference than any other team but fell short to UP Yoddha in the playoffs.
U Mumba's current coach is Sanjeev Kumar while the team's home venue is Dome, NSCI, SVP Stadium, Mumbai. U Mumba currently sits at the bottom of the table but the team are nowhere down and out and look to climb their way to the top this Pro Kabaddi League season. The U Mumba roster boasts of stars like Abhishek Singh (Raider), Arjun Deshwal (Raider), Athul MS (Raider), Fazel Atrachali (Defender, left corner), Dong Geon (Raider) among others.
U Mumba has played 114 games so far (all seasons combined) and has won 71 games, making the Mumbai franchise record to be decent.
Sandeep Narwal, U Mumba's vice-captain has been identified as a key player for the squad as he supports the team with an all-round contribution. With raiders getting more attention and points than catchers, Narwal stresses the importance of team balance and has voiced out the importance of defending in PKL for U Mumba.
U Mumba has had associate sponsors like Enerzal, TVS Tyres, Adidas, Killer Jeans, Lawman pg3, Macho, Prayag, Red FM 93.5, Courtyard by Marriott, Smaaash and Wockhardt Hospital. The current 2019 shirt sponsors are Indigo Paints.
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