Praveen Rana replaces injured Sushil Kumar at Asian Championships

Things haven’t been smooth-sailing between wrestlers Sushil Kumar and Praveen Rana of late, with both their supporters clashing during the Commonwealth games 2018 trials at the KD Jadhav stadium in December last year. Kumar’s supporters had allegedly thrashed Rana’s elder brother after which the latter registered a complaint against him and his supporters.

However, in a dramatic turn of events, Rana is now all set to take the place of Kumar, who is suffering from a knee injury, in the upcoming Asian Championships held in Bishkek, as per reports of The Tribune. An injured Kumar would supposedly skip the tournament, which is set to begin on February 27. Reports have also surfaced that Kumar has withdrawn from the Pro Wrestling League in order to recover from the injury.

“He doesn’t want to risk it. Now he has prioritised the Commonwealth Games,” the report quoted an unnamed Wrestling Federation of India official stating it.

After Sushil made his long-awaited return to the mat, controversy soon ensued as he won the senior Nationals by three walkovers. Kumar is also being interrogated for his role in the scandalous brawl, which took place between his own supporters, Rana and his brother.