PKL Young Stars: Mahender Singh - The Bulldozer

15th of October, 2018. Bengaluru Bulls was up against U.P. Yoddha as the fans were filling up the stadium of Shree Shiv Chattrapati Complex, Pune. It was now or never for Bengaluru Bulls considering they had to beat U.P. at a margin greater than 7.

The match commenced in what was back and forth encounter with Rohit Kumar standing as the lone warrior in their raiding unit. Out came Mahender Singh to prominence as the best defender in the left cover of that day, scoring 10 tackle points in 12 attempts leaving a spectacular fantasy over the Kabaddi world.

Nicknamed as the "Bulldozer", Mahender certainly gave justice to his name as he went full rampage over Rishank Devadiga, Mahesh Goud, and Surender Bhola. There arrived a moment in the second half with 10 minutes to play when Mahender super tackled Rishank with a picture perfect dive along with the support of Ravinder Pahal.

It was Mahender 4 - Rishank 3 in terms of player battle, a match he won't ever overlook in his life. Bengaluru won 38-32 but had lost their playoffs chances. Those 40 minutes of encounter gave birth to a shining wizard in the name of Mahender Singh who won a lot of hearts that day.

Entitled as 'Mahi' by his friends and family, Mahender Singh was born on 10th January 1996 in a small village of Tikar which lies in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh; the same state which has gifted us our current Indian Kabaddi captain, Ajay Thakur.

A 9th grader 'Mahi' started his Kabaddi career and trained hard with no stopping at all. Just like when a sun rises pushing the darkness out of its bounds, in the year 2010 Mahender got selected in the state hostel of Bilaspur. He also played for the 'Singh Sena' in the local tournament those days.

4 years later, this naturally gifted talent with a juvenile audacity got selected in the Indian Army 'Red team' and booked his prospect to play the nationals. Needless to say, he performed like a champion and saw himself getting signed by Bengaluru Bulls in the Pro Kabaddi Season 5 in ₹20 lakhs.

Mahender is a prime left cover when it comes to executing agile dives and knee holds His first impressions were enough to make it into the playing 7 where he showcased his top quality defending versus Telegu Titans snatching 3 tackle points in 4 attempts.

Having 3 high 5s in his debut, two of them which came in group stage matches versus Tamil Thalaivas (5 tackle points in 5 attempts) and Bengal Warriors (5 tackle points in 6 attempts). If a dream team of PKL 5 had to be picked, Mahender Singh would definitely be the top priority for the left cover.

He got his chances to play with Nitin Tomar and Monu Goyat in the Senior Nationals 2017-18 in Services board. His contributions took them to the runners-up position. In season 6 auctions, the team management of the Bulls was quick enough to raise their FBM card for this Himachal lad to attain him back at ₹40 lakhs.

Mahender sees himself to leave a mark once again this time in Pro Kabaddi season 6. This friendly and a humble upcoming star once quoted, "Kuch bhi karo chahe woh Kabaddi hi kyu na ho, focus hamesha rehna chaiye"