Mumbai, Jul 24 (UNI) After making his debut in season three of the vivo Pro Kabaddi League, Rohit Kumar soon positioned himself as the raider who wreaked havoc in the opposition den.
In his very first season, Rohit led Patna Pirates to its first-ever title and pocketed the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
His romance with Bengaluru Bulls began in 2017 after he was picked from the Pirates. He made an instant impact there too and helped the team win the title for the first time as a captain in Season 6. Donning national colours, Rohit was part of the gold-medal winning team at the 2016 South Asian Games.
The accolades on the mat notwithstanding, Rohit, known for his exceptional frog jumps, did have another career option in his mind had it not been for kabaddi. Speaking Pro Kabaddi’s Instagram Live chat show, ‘Beyond The Mat’, Rohit Kumar said, “If not a kabaddi player, then I would’ve tried to become
an actor.”
Rohit also spoke about his journey of taking up kabaddi professionally, “During my childhood, I didn’t have any interest in sports. My seniors from the village used to play kabaddi. I saw Rakesh Kumar along with few others play and that inspired me to play kabaddi.
My father used to play kabaddi for a brief period, but he joined Delhi Police. He wanted me to play kabaddi, so he used to take me to watch matches in our village with Rakesh and Manjeet. I thought that if I become like Rakesh Kumar, then it will be good.
Gradually, I got to play in the state national team and started enjoying it. I was really happy when I got the kit bag. When I wore the Delhi team’s training gear, the thought of wearing India’s jersey also crossed my mind and I worked hard towards that.
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