By Correspondent Gaurav
Fuelled by his strength and talent, Anup Kumar has emerged as the mainstay of the national Kabaddi squad. The Arjuna Awardee also led the Mumbai franchise U Mumba at the Pro Kabaddi League 2016.
It’s been a long and arduous journey, maybe it is where his belief in destiny comes into play. Raised in Palra, a small village in Gurgaon District, he began playing the sport as a pastime but his exploits caught the eye of Amar Singh Yadav, the then coach of the C.R.P.F. team. Compatriots often said that everything he touched turned into gold. With desi ghee a diet essential, the 32-year-old provided the sharpness in the raiding department owing to his signature move ‘toe touch'.
“As the name suggests, it’s a soft touch to the defender’s body through rapid foot movement. It’s a swift move and – if executed correctly – you return to your side, untouched. The toe touch used to be my trademark move in Season One but in later seasons I realised that opponents anticipated it and I seemed predictable, which is when I started to adapt variations of the touch and also ensured that it caught my adversary by surprise,” Anup explains.
Today, as he leads the national team and U Mumba, Anup has come a long way from the schoolboy who commenced playing just as a hobby.