“Every time I watched my father work hard for us, I would think that one day, I’ll take his position and make sure my family is happy. I come from a middle class family, but he always encouraged me to follow my passion. When I took up kabaddi seriously, he knew it wouldn’t bring us immediate income that’ll support the family. But that was never a problem for him. He wanted me to rise and shine in whatever field I choose. I chose sports. I started with basketball before kabaddi, but then didn’t realise when I found my calling in the latter.

Two years ago, my dad passed away. It was the most difficult phase and will always be. But I remember his words of strength that keep me going. I know I have a family back in Himachal Pradesh and I need to take care of them. I’m really happy for the growth of Kabaddi as a competitive sport because it gives a lot of people like me, a secure career in something they love.

Last season I was one of the youngest captains in the league, leading the team of Telugu Titans. This season, I’m happy supporting my captain Abozar in defense. Promise our fans, we will work on our mistakes and bounce back even stronger!

I also truly hope that, Kabaddi will grow further and get more international attention. It’s been five years since VIVO Prokabaddi began and it’s given us all a fabulous platform to shine and showcase our skills in our own indigenous sport of Kabaddi. Hopefully one day, it can become our National Sport? Maybe Olympics after that? One can dream and work towards it for sure”!

Catch all the action from ProKabaddi season 7 only on the Star Sports and Hotstar starting 7 p.m. with LIVE match coverage at 7:30 p.m.

#VIVOProKabaddi #StarSports #TeluguTitans#KabaddiTough #HumansOfHyderabad
— at Pro Kabaddi 2019