Kabaddi is all set to embark on a bigger journey later on this month, all ready to stage the fifth edition of the Pro Kabaddi League which will witness four new teams come into the fold with more than 130 matches to be played in 12 cities across India.
The native sport has seen a complete transformation in its identity in the last three years and has grown to be a multi-million dollar sport accounting for one of the largest viewership bases in India, second only to cricket.
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In it’s journey to the pinnacle of success, kabaddi has primarily touched the lives of its fellow players in more ways than one. It has given a new lease of life to a whole new generation in terms of recognition, growth and more importantly financial rewards.
Players who were unknown despite winning international accolades for the nation are now greeted by the paparazzi each time they step out of the confines of their homes or hotel rooms.
We look at five such players who came from humble backgrounds but made it big in the Pro Kabaddi League:
#5 Selvamani K (Jaipur Pink Panthers)
The young gun was signed by the Abhishek Bachchan owned franchise for a whopping 73 lakh in the auctions that took place a month ago, but it was not too long ago that he was playing kabaddi for his club in Tamil Nadu. The player has seen an upward trajectory in his career ever since he sought professional training in the kabaddi Tamil Nadu Amateur Kabaddi Association (TAKA) while he was in the final year of his diploma course in Mechanical Engineering.
To support Selvamani’s training, his elder brother had to sacrifice his own education, a deed that he will be proud of now when the younger brother is scaling new heights in PKL. But at the heart of it all, Selvamani is still the same, simple lad from a small town of Salem who utilised his price money to pay off his family debts and going forward, aspires to build a house and arrange his sister’s marriage while still posted as a clerk with the South Central Railways.
#4 Sukesh Hegde (Fortune Giants Gujarat)
Sukesh may now be basking in the glory that Pro Kabaddi has brought forth but a look at his journey and one will realise he has tread a long course to be at the stage where he is perched today.
Poor academic results triggered more kabaddi practice in the formative years, which eventually led him to the All India Inter-Universities competition during the first year of his college education.
Also read: Pro Kabaddi League 2017 Season 5: Where are India's World Cup winning stars now?
The son a driver, Sukesh wanted to make it big in the sport and akin to other struggling athletes, he moved from his small town in Mangalore to the city of Bengaluru when Vijaya Bank offered him a job to build on his dreams.
Subsequently, Telugu Titans came knocking and a long, glitzy professional career opportunity lay ahead of young man which he grabbed with both hands. Today, he has switched to the Gujarat side post the auctions and will lead the team as captain in the upcoming season.
#3 Rishank Devadiga (UP Yoddhas)
Kabaddi was his real passion and he held on to it even in the dimmest of circumstances. A commerce graduate today, Rishank was forced to give up his academic journey post the tenth grade in order to financially support his family which included his mother and sister, having lost his father at an early age. His primary aim in life then was to just earn enough money and for the same purpose, the young lad even worked as a waiter at the Leela hotel in Mumbai.
A distant thought at that point in time was to secure a job on a cruise in order to get a greater salary but destiny had a different script written for him. Rishank did not leave kabaddi even while working and in one of the local matches, his talent was noticed by experienced selectors which gave him the chance to represent the city team.
Subsequently, he bagged a job at Dena Bank and then BPCL under the sports category and continued to play the sport he loved dearly. However, his life took a different turn when he was picked up by U Mumba, and from there, the young gun today is one of the most rampant raiders in PKL.
#2 Deepak Hooda (Puneri Paltan)
From the shadows of obscurity to a life of comfort and riches, kabaddi wasn’t the first choice for Deepak who was a rank holder in academics, in fact, he initially took up the sport to earn money in order to shoulder the family responsibility.
There was a time in his life when he used to practice for three hours in the morning before dusk, then go and work on the farms, in the afternoon work as a teacher in a local school and then come back home and again practice for 3-4 hours.
Participation in local tournaments helped him earn the extra money required to support his sister and her two children, and regular visits to other villages some even 30 kms away help him build on his kabaddi skills. But fortune favours the brave, and Deepak got his reward when he was recruited by Air India with the help of Ajay Thakur and then with the introduction of PKL, his life has completely transformed for the better. So much so that he was one of the eight retained players ahead of the auctions for the fifth season.
#1 Kashiling Adake ( U Mumba)
His lean frame made him pursue kabaddi as a school kid instead of following in his father’s footsteps as a wrestler, but soon there was an obstacle in his aspirations due to his father’s death which made him the sole breadwinner of his family.
Kashi used to not only tend to the farms back home in his village in Sangli but also go and work in a sugarcane factory post that routine. For all of this, he earned merely 200 rupees each day and had to satisfy himself just one meal for four years. But one cannot really kill the passion that keeps burning and Kashi continued to practice kabaddi, joined local clubs and then one day on his uncle’s insistence, travelled to Mumbai.
In a story of hits and misses, he ended up playing for Mahindra and was then picked up by BPCL before Dabang Delhi gave him his talent’s worth. His auction price was 10 lakh with which he first rebuilt his house in Sangli which had been shattered due to heavy rains and from there, he has not looked back and will turn up for the U Mumba side this season.
