PKL 2018 | Naveen Kumar – The new kid on the block for Dabang Delhi

12/29/2018

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PKL

Pro Kabaddi League has always provided young and budding talents in the country a stage to showcase their ability and has transformed them into stars. Young raider Naveen Kumar is one such find for Dabang Delhi KC and he has made an impressive start to his PKL career for the team.

Right before the start of the season six of the Pro Kabaddi League, there was a doubt for the Dabang Delhi team management regarding the young bunch of raiders in their squad. They always had that belief in their defensive unit with players like captain Joginder Narwal, Vishal Mane, and Ravinder Pahal but in the raiding department, they could only trust Iranian all-rounder Meraj Sheykh.

For the Delhi unit, Chandran Ranjit showed good skills to collect nine points in the first game against Gujarat Fortunegiants as he was used as the primary raider of the team to kick start their Pro Kabaddi campaign. Debutant of this season Naveen Kumar then came to limelight in the second game against Puneri Paltan where they registered their first win of the season. After getting five points in the first, he claimed seven raid points against a very good Paltan defence. Since then, Naveen has gone on to collect another 139 raid points in the season from 20 games that he has played for Dabang Delhi so far before the start of the playoffs and is the best raider in the team now.

Speaking exclusively to SportsCafe, Naveen said, “I am happy that I am contributing for the team and will try hard to continue like this so that we can get into the finals from here on. I will try my level best to develop my game and this will be a real delight for me and the team.”

Born in a small village in Bhiwani district of Haryana, Naveen has impressed one and all with his raids in the biggest tournament for kabaddi. He is currently at the 12th position of the Top Raiders list and is closely followed by teammate Ranjit who has 138 points in 22 matches. The 18-year-old raider has a strike rate of 45.35% and not out percentage of 79.64. He has been very effective with his quick movement on the mat which enables the youngster to come back to his half quickly after collecting a point at crucial junctures of the game. He has only two Super Raids in his PKL career so far but six Super 10s from 20 games in spite of having two more raiders in the side shows his consistency for Dabang Delhi.

When asked about other raiders in the team and the bonding between them, the Haryana lad said, “There is no pressure on my shoulders and we three (Ranjit and Meraj) try to revive each other when one is off the mat. Delhi plays as one unit and the raiding and defensive units complement each other which is important for our success.”

“I have learnt a lot from Meraj, his movement is little different and whatever I have got to know from him will certainly be helpful for me in my career.”

Naveen has learnt the basics of the sport in his village and is yet to play senior nationals. He represented his home state Haryana in a couple of seasons in the junior nationals before turning out for the Sports Authority of India (SAI) side in the junior championship.

Naveen has now joined the Indian Airforce in New Delhi and is all set to represent Services team in national championships from next season. Naveen comes from a small family from Haryana where his father is a driver in Haryana Roadways, his mother is a housewife and his sister is still studying. He hardly had good training facilities while playing kabaddi back home but now with his inclusion in the PKL, he is delighted with the infrastructure and training here. He uses running hand touch as his primary weapon to collect points during the raids and feels that PKL has helped sharpen his raiding technique.

“Physio and doctor in the support staff of the team take proper care of us to prevent injury in the long the PKL season. Fitness trainer looks after us in the gym and these facilities were not available for us before in my village,” explained the Delhi raider.

Speaking about the support from coach Krishan Kumar Hooda and captain Joginder, Naveen said, “Both of them are really good and they advise us each and every time in the game and our coach tries to make proper strategies for the opponents that we try and execute on the mat. We get to know about what to do at what time during a match. The team is performing well together under both of them.”

The youngster, who considers Ajay Thakur as his favourite player, has an aim of representing India in international competitions like all other sportspersons in the country and is ready to work hard towards his target. But, for now, he is training hard to see Dabang Delhi KC lift the PKL trophy on January 5 in Mumbai. Dabang Delhi was the third team from Zone A to make it to the playoffs and they will face Bengal Warriors in the second eliminator on Sunday.

“There is one ultimate dream of playing for the country in international tournaments. Whatever hard work that I am putting up right now needs to be doubled to get there and I am well aware of that.

Now, we all are practising hard for the playoff matches but our performances on the mat on the very day will determine our fate in the tournament,” the teenage sensation concluded before rushing for an evening gym session.

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