It’s just a fortnight away for the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup to commence in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. India have dominated all international tournaments since the 1990’s - winning 7 gold medals at the Asian Games as well as lifting the previous two world cups.
The advent of the Pro Kabaddi League has given rise to some formidable opposition in the form of Korea and Iran. Puneri Paltan captain and India veteran, Manjeet Chillar spoke to Sportskeeda at an event where the Indian Kabaddi jersey for the World Cup was unveiled.
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The 30-year-old all-rounder will be looking to add another feather to his already decorated hat. “This year we haven’t had an off season. There was no gap between the end of the Pro Kabaddi league and the beginning of the India camp. We’ve been practicing continuously. All the boys are fit,” he said.
Talking about this particular Indian side, Manjeet was supremely confident about India’s chances, “All the players in the squad are extremely good. Many have already players many international matches and have played for the country. We always play as one unit which is one of our biggest strengths. That’s the reason we keep bagging gold medals”, said Chhillar.
Balwan Singh, the head coach of this stellar Indian squad and also the coach of Jaipur Pink Panthers realises he has a task at hand – to pick the best seven from this fifteen-man squad. It’s a pleasant problem to have, but a problem nonetheless.
Manjeet, though, believes selection should be purely based on performances.
“Selecting the first seven is the coach’s job. It’s not mine. They will decide among themselves. If my performance is not good, bench me. In the end, team India must win. Whoever plays, we must come first,” the all-rounder added.
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The talented all-rounder spoke about the four pillars that every player ought to have, “practice, rest, diet and discipline. Any player from any sport automatically improves his/her performance when they master these four aspects”, he said.
Lastly, the experienced campaigner gave us an insight into his match day diet, “On match days I eat a light meal, not much. If the match is in the evening, then I eat well in the morning and nothing else throughout the day”, he concluded.
