Ajay Thakur and his unusual initiation into raiding

Tamil Thalaivas’ Ajay Thakur had a remarkable outing in his debut season as a captain. He single-handedly managed to rescue the team from difficult situations and as a result finished as the third most destructive raider of the season. After his World Cup heroics last year, this performance all but cements his reputation as one of the most lethal raiders. However, it was more his physical attributes than performances which got him started as a raider.

“When I first started, the only reason I used to be sent to raid was because I was tall and had long limbs,” Thakur recalled with a laugh while speaking exclusively to ProKabaddi.com. But raiding soon turned into a passion for the Chennai captain and he rose through the ranks quickly thanks to his attacking ability.

“Kabaddi is a game from rural India and I was born in a village. So it was only natural for me to take up the sport. However, once I started, my seniors encouraged me and pushed me to keep going further which is why I am here today,” he explained.

Although he has won several matches for his team through the VIVO Pro Kabaddi season, Thakur considers his match-winning performance against Gujarat Fortunegiants to be his best yet. “Gujarat was performing well through the league and were considered favourites (Match 94). They were in a strong position for a large portion of the match and I don’t think they ever expected that we would come from behind and beat them from there. I think it was my favourite moment because they had a huge lead and we covered the lead and managed to defeat them in the closing seconds,” concluded Thakur.