Mumbai: U Mumba player Kashiling Adake feels it is an advantage to have strong raiders in the side for the fifth season of the Pro Kabaddi league, which gets underway on 28 July. "Having good raiders is a plus point. When a raider earns a point for the team, the covers play with a free mind and there's less pressure on the defence and that helps them to perform better and take a few risks," Adake said in a release.

"I am fortunate to belong to a side that boasts of strong raiders, something that always helps in gaining an upper hand over the other teams. "Our team has some of the best raiders the sport has ever seen. While Shabeer (Bapu) and Nitin (Mandane) are both left raiders, Anup (Kumar) and I are right raiders – keeping all options covered.

If the opponent's right defence is strong, we will raid on the left and vice versa. I feel this combination of having strong left and right raiders in the team will be an advantage," he added. The player also said this year the team was focusing on building stamina so that fatigue never became a factor through the extended season.