Gujarat Giants' Over-dependency on Mohammadreza Shadloui is Worrying: Sunil Taneja

Speaking on KBD Live, JioStar expert Sunil Taneja analysed the match-up between Jaipur Pink Panthers and U Mumba:

“This match should not have been decided in 40 minutes. Such a result deserved to come in regular time. In the last raid, Sandeep Kumar of U Mumba only had to cross the baulk line and return, but Jaipur’s Deepanshu Khatri was standing in an advanced position, knowing it was a situation of nothing to lose. Then, Aashish Kumar came forward with a brilliant double thigh-hold that took the game to a tie-breaker. From thereon, Deepanshu showed tremendous courage, and it was really Jaipur’s right cover and right corner who displayed guts to pull off a win from a losing position. Even when U Mumba’s Anil only needed to cross the baulk line and return, Deepanshu once again stepped up with an advanced tackle and a solid grip to seal the match.”

On the performance of U Mumba’s young raider Sandeep Kumar:

“I just hope Sandeep Kumar’s effort doesn’t get overshadowed by Jaipur’s win. Very few players from Bihar have made it to the Pro Kabaddi League, and Sandeep is among the first. Against Jaipur, he showed tremendous courage, scoring 14 points in 23 raids. Even when Jaipur was pulling ahead, it was Sandeep, who brought U Mumba back with his speed and a brilliant super raid. Yes, in the final raid, he lacked a bit of experience, but despite Ajit Chauhan’s injury, U Mumba has found a raider, who is raising his hand to tell Head Coach Anil Chaprana that he has the strength to be a strike raider. So, while this loss was heartbreaking, the silver lining for Mumbai is discovering a strong alternative to Ajit Chauhan.”

On the surprise move to use Shadloui as a raider in the second half instead of a defender:

“There were two big surprises in this match. We were already discussing whether Gujarat should relieve Mohammadreza Shadloui of captaincy duties and let him play as a pure left-corner. For the first time since Season 8, Shadloui didn’t start the match and was on the bench. Then, in the second half, instead of coming in as a defender, he came in as a pure raider. We had spoken earlier that Shadloui can raid, but no one expected him to raid this much. In his very first raid, he executed a dubki, and across eight raids, he secured six points. He showed his skills and got Gujarat back into the match. But once again, the worrying sign was over-dependency on Shadloui. If he scores in defense, the team wins. If he scores in raiding, the team wins. The other six players also need to step up, because the entire burden cannot be on Shadloui.”