PKL 2018 | Vikash Khandola: Haryana’s new answer to opposition defenders
Haryana Steelers roped in one of the finest raiders in the shape of Monu Goyat for PKL 6 but he has struggled to come up with a substantial performance so far. It has been Vikash Khandola has been their most impressive player this season with some impressive performances in the ongoing season.
Haryana has a history of producing some of the best kabaddi players in the world and the state is known as the
Born in April 1998,
Fortunes changed for the Haryana raider when he got a call from the newly-included franchise from his home state last year. He was delighted to get a chance to represent Haryana and that was quite visible in his performance as well. He played nine matches in the fifth season and earned 58 raid points at an impressive average of 6.44 per game. Experienced Wazir Singh was their primary raider in the season along with Prashanth Rai and Deepak Dahiya to help him out. With a good raiding unit in the team,
Speaking exclusively to SportsCafe,
“PKL has been a revolution in kabaddi and has changed the lives of many kabaddi players like me. It has made the game popular and has brought it on the mat from the muddy courts. Previously, not a lot of people knew about the sport but now people
“Joining SAI and playing for them had a big impact on my career and I believe this made me what I am today. The coaches at SAI, Gandhinagar made us work hard and helped a lot in the improvement of my game,” said
Son of a farmer,
“My parents have always stood behind me during my tough times. When I was a child, my mother used to put pressure to study hard but with the gradual progress in kabaddi, they are very happy with what I am doing now. I am still pursuing my graduation in arts from IGNOU, Haryana,”
“My parents and relatives came to watch the matches held in Sonipat. We started by winning the first game but unfortunately lost consecutive matches after that. A win in the last game at home was a confidence booster for our team. It’s a long tournament and we would definitely want to come back properly in the rest of the tournaments.”
“Monu is a very good player and it is a privilege to play alongside him. I get a lot to learn from a senior player like Monu. He tries to rectify my mistakes during the matches and in the practice sessions as well. He tells me when to take a bonus and when to go for which move during a match,” informed
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The 20-year-old, who took up kabaddi by seeing people in his village playing on muddy courts, gets inspiration from ‘Captain Cool’ Anup Kumar and says that his style is influenced by the veteran raider. He also loves playing volley-ball apart from kabaddi and wants to bring glory for the country one day by winning gold at Asian Games and clinching the Kabaddi World Cup in near future.
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