VIDEO | Surinder Singh dashes Gujarat's hopes with surprising Super Raid
Defenders coming to raid in a kabaddi match is not new but they only make empty raids more often than not. However, in the game between U Mumba and Gujarat Fortunegiants on Friday, right cover Surinder Singh came for a raid and returned with four points which killed all the hopes of Gujarat.
It was the last home game for U Mumba and they were up against Gujarat Fortunegiants in search of a win as the leg was turning out to be a terrible one for Fazel Atrachali and co. Gujarat, on the other hand, was the unbeaten side till last evening and all eyes were on their defence to come good against U Mumba which had Abhishek Singh and Rohit Baliyan as the two dependable raiders.
After a very competitive first half, Mumba had managed to inflict an all-out on Gujarat once and at that time had a 15-9 lead. However, the Sunil Kumar-led team kept their focus and were trying for a comeback. They attempted to surprise the Mumba outfit by sending two newcomers Harmanjeet Singh and Sonu for raids and the ploy was successful as well.
But, the Mumba think tank had something different in their minds. While they had only three players on the mat, the home team sent Surinder for a raid with the scorecard reading 20-15 and five minutes remaining in the game. This was the first time the right cover defender was raiding in the tournament and he came up with a surprising effort. Gujarat defenders underestimated Surinder the raider, and wanted to go for an advanced tackle.
With seven players on the mat, Gujarat played a high line of defence and stood ahead of the Baulk Line. It was Sunil Kumar who came forward to block and Ruturaj Koravi, Sumit and Parvesh Bhainswal all had come in quickly to support their skipper. However, Surinder surprised one and all and managed to escape the tackle and returned to his own half with four points. The Super Raid at that point of time ended all chances for Gujarat in the match.