#2 Deepak Hooda (Puneri Paltan)
Trending
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.
