PKL 12: U Mumba vs Gujarat Giants, Match 4 – Preview

U Mumba will open their Pro Kabaddi League 2025 campaign against Gujarat Giants at the Vishwanadh Sports Club, Vizag on Saturday. U Mumba had finished the previous season in fifth place and thus had qualified for the playoffs.

On the other hand, Gujarat Giants had a disappointing run in the 11th edition of the PKL, finishing in 11th place after managing only five wins in 22 games.

GG roped in two-time champion Mohammadreza Shadloui for a whopping INR 2.23 crore, making him the most expensive player at the PKL Season 12 Player Auction. The Giants also bought raider Ajith V Kumar (INR 36.30 lacs), left cover Shubham Kumar (INR 27.40 lacs), Iranian defender Milad Jabbari (INR 13.60 lacs), right cover Lucky Sharma (INR 19.50 lacs) and all-rounder Nitin Pawar (INR 13.70 lacs) in the auction.

Meanwhile, U Mumba decided to retain raiders Ajit Chouhan, Satish Kannan, defenders Sunil Kumar, Deepak Kundu, Lokesh Ghosliya, Mukilan Shanmugam, Sunny and all-rounder Amirmohammad Zafardanesh ahead of the auction. In the auction, they roped in all-rounder Aanil Mohan for INR 78 lakh. They also signed raider Sandeep Kumar (INR 49 lacs), Iranian all-rounder Mohammad Ghorbani (INR 13 lacs).

U Mumba squad: Raiders: Ajit Chouhan, Satish Kannan (right raider), Mukeshkannan S, Abhimanyu Raghuvanshi, Sandeep Kumar,

Defenders: Sunil Kumar, Deepak Kundu (left corner), Lokesh Ghosliya (left corner), Sunny (left cover), Mukilan Shanmugam (left cover), Ravi (right cover), Rinku (right corner), Parvesh Bhainswal (left cover)

All-rounders: Rohit, Amirmohammad Zafardanesh (F), Amarjeet, Mohammad Ghorbani (F), Aanil Mohan

Gujarat Giants squad: Raiders: Rakesh, Parteek Dahiya, Himanshu Singh, Himanshu (right raider), Shridhar Ananda Kadam (right raider), Ankit, K Harish, Ajith V Kumar

Defenders: Amit, Sumit, K Harish, Rohit Kumar (left cover), Milad Jabbari (right cover), Lucky Sharma (right cover), Shubham Kumar (left cover)

All-rounders: Himanshu Yadav, Visvanth V, Nitin Panwar, Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh (F)