U Mumba Explained

U Mumba
Full Name:U Mumba
Sport:Kabaddi
Founded:2014
First Season:2014
Last Season:2023
Current:2023–24 Pro Kabaddi League
Current Icon:Kabaddi
League:PKL
City:Mumbai
Stadium:Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium (5,000)
Owner:Unilazer Ventures
Ronnie Screwvala
Ceo:Suhail Chandhok
Largest Loss:U Mumba 19–41 Puneri Paltan
26 June 2016, Season 4
Coach:Gholamreza Mazandarani[1]
Captain:Sunil Kumar
Championships: (2015)
Playoff Berths:5

U Mumba is a professional kabaddi team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League.[2] The franchise is currently led by Sunil Kumar, and will be coached by Gholamreza Mazandarani, coach of Iran national Kabbadi team. The team is owned by Unilazer Ventures Pvt. Ltd with co - founders in Ronnie Screwvala and Supratik Sen. U Mumba play their home matches at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium, Mumbai.

In the inaugural season of the PKL, U Mumba were one of the most dominant teams in the league but lost the ultimate match of the competition, thus ending as runner's up to the Jaipur Pink Panthers.[3] In 2015, they were out to make up for their mistakes and successfully won the tournament after defeating Bengaluru Bulls in the Final.[4] Later next season in 2016(January), U Mumba lived up to the tag of the best team in PKL history and made their third successive PKL final before eventually ending as runner's up, as they were defeated by the Patna Pirates by a narrow margin despite a lion hearted comeback in the second half of the final.

Ahead of the June 2016 season, in the PKL auction, U Mumba lost many of their key players who were a part of the squad that reached three consecutive finals. The team wasn't able to deal with the changes as they failed to make the playoffs in the following two seasons- 2016(June) season and 2017. An inspired change of personnel by the owners ahead of the 2018-19 season, saw U Mumba regain their lost touch and qualified for the playoffs after two failed attempts. In the process U Mumba once again became the force they once were, and ended the league stage with dominant wins and the most highest score difference than any other team. But inability to peak in big games with narrow margins, saw them getting knocked out by the UP Yoddha in the playoffs.[5]

U Mumba contest the Maharashtra derby against state rivals Puneri Paltan and have the bragging rights as well by winning 9 of the 15 encounters between the two teams.

In season 7, they went out in the 2nd semi-final losing to the eventual champions Bengal Warriors, by a score of 35–37.

Franchise history

Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) is a professional kabaddi league in India, based on the format of the Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament.[6] The first edition of the tournament was played in 2014 with eight franchises representing various cities in India.[7] U Mumba is a Mumbai based franchise owned by Unilazer sports promoted by Ronnie Screwvala.[8]

Current squad

NamePosition
Manjeet Dahiya Raider
Shivam Raider
Ajit Chouhan Left Raider
Satish Kannan Raider
Vishal Chaudhary Raider
M Dhanasekar Raider
Stuwart Singh Raider
Sunny Defender - Left Cover
Lokesh Ghosliya Defender - Left Corner
Shubham Kumar All-rounder
Amirmohammad Zafardanesh All-rounder
Amin Ghorbani Defender
Deepak Kundu Defender - Left Corner
Parvesh Bhainswal Defender - Left Cover
Sunil Kumar Defender - Right Cover
Gokulakannan M Defender - Right Cover
01 Rinku Defender - Right Corner
Aashish Kumar Defender - Right Cover
Bittu Defender - Right Corner
Sombir Defender - Left Corner
Mukilan Shanmugam Defender - Left Cover
Source: Pro Kabaddi[9]

Seasons

Season I

See main article: 2014 Pro Kabaddi League season. U Mumba finished runners-up in the first season after losing to Jaipur Pink Panthers in the finals.[10]

Season II

See main article: 2015 Pro Kabaddi League season. This season U Mumba finished the league as the Champions.

Season III

See main article: 2016 Pro Kabaddi League season (January).

Season IV

See main article: article and 2016 Pro Kabaddi League season (June).

Season VII

See main article: 2019 Pro Kabaddi League season.

Season VIII

See main article: 2021–22 Pro Kabaddi League season.

Season IX

See main article: 2022 Pro Kabaddi League season.

Season X

See main article: 2023-24 Pro Kabaddi League.

Head coach record

NameNationalityFromToPWDLWin%
scope=row style=text-align:leftBhaskaran Edachery2014 2017
scope=row style=text-align:leftGholamreza Mazandarani20182018
scope=row style=text-align:leftSanjeev Kumar Baliyan20192019
scope=row style=text-align:leftRajaguru Subramanian20202022
scope=row style=text-align:leftAnil Chaprana20222023
scope=row style=text-align:leftGholamreza Mazandarani2023present

Records

Overall results Pro Kabbaddi season

SeasonsTotalWinsTiedLosses% WinPosition
16 9 3 4 65.63% Runners-Up
16 14 0 2 87.50% Champions
16 13 0 3 81.25% Runners-Up
14 7 1 6 53.57% 5/8
22 10 0 12 45.45% 7/12
23 15 2 6 69.57% 3/12
24 13 2 9 58.33% 4/12
22710 540% 10/12
2210129

By opposition

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

OppositionPlayedWonLostDrawn% Win
20 14 5 1 70.0%
20 14 6 0 70.0%
22 12 9 1 54.5%
14 4 9 1 28.5%
15 7 6 2 46.6%
23 10 11 2 43.4%
20 11 8 1 55.0%
22 10 9 3 45.4%
11 7 3 1 63.6%
18 10 5 3 55.5%
12 5 6 1 41.6%
Total 197 104 77 16 52.7%

Sponsors

U Mumba announced TATA Motors will continue as their principle sponsor for Season 4, 2016. Associate sponsors are Enerzal, TVS Tyres, Adidas, Killer Jeans, Lawman pg3, Amul Macho, Prayag, Red FM 93.5, Courtyard by Marriott, Smaaash and Wockhardt Hospitals

!Year!Season!Kit Manufacturer!Main Sponsor!Back Sponsor!Sleeve Sponsor
2014IU SportsLenskart
2015IINise GelEnerzalAmul Macho
2016IIIAdidasTata XenonAmul MachoEnerzal
IV
2017VZandu GelManforceAmul Macho
2018VIIndigo PaintsSyskaXiaomi
2019VIIHaldiram'sFingers
2021VIIIPumaSansuiMacho HintUpGrad
2022IXParimatch NewsSurya
2023XNiviaMelBatGreatWhite

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Meet Gholamreza Mazandarani: Coach behind Iran's historic Asiad gold joins U Mumba for PKL 10 . 16 August 2023. ESPN.
  2. News: U Mumba starts with win . Viswanath . G . 27 July 2014 . Mumbai . The Hindu. 28 July 2014.
  3. News: Pro Kabaddi League 2014 Points Table: PKL 2014 Team Standings and Positions. India. 1 September 2014.
  4. News: Pro Kabaddi League: U Mumba crowned 2015 champions after thrilling win over Bengaluru Bulls in final. The Indian Express. 24 August 2015.
  5. News: Pro Kabaddi 2018 Playoffs Highlights: Dabang Delhi, UP Yoddha win Eliminators. The Indian Express. 30 December 2018.
  6. Web site: 'Patna Pirates' Join Pro Kabaddi League; Team Logo Unveiled . PatnaDaily.com . 7 June 2014 . 8 June 2014.
  7. Web site: Monday, 26 May 2014 . Pro Kabaddi League auction sees big spends on national players . Business Standard . 2014-05-21 . 2014-05-26.
  8. Web site: Official Website for the Pro Kabaddi League . ProKabaddi.com . 2014-03-09 . 2014-05-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140523072711/http://prokabaddi.com/venues/bengaluru . 23 May 2014 . dmy-all .
  9. Web site: U Mumba Full Squad . Pro Kabbaddi .
  10. News: Jaipur Pink panthers, champions. sportskeeda.com. 22 June 2015.