PATNA: In one of Star Sports’ previews for the second edition of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) — Bengaluru Bulls’ Ajay Thakur went head to head in a stare-down with U Mumba’s Anup Kumar.
While the shows were done to ensure some continuity during the off season, the host broadcaster hoped to achieve a bigger objective: to make the players feel comfortable around cameras. Most of them took time with their shoots; there is a story going around that a few players took 7-8 hours to shoot a single minute without laughing in front of the camera.
But not Thakur, one of India’s best Kabaddi players of the last decade. A showstopper in the truest sense of the word, posing for him is second nature. “Initially, I did feel a bit conscious with all the cameras looking into my face. But it became alright,” says the 29-year-old key member of the Bengaluru Bulls in an exclusive interview with Express. “It became second nature to me, and it’s just for promoting the sport. So, I have no problems with that.”
Born in Nalagarh (Himachal Pradesh), Thakur, who is yet to lose a game for the national team, has attained a fan-base because of the ‘frog jump’ - his signature move. While raiding, he jumps with both feet splayed wide to evade defenders.
Ask him about that and he turns nostalgic. “It’s like a favourite move of mine, really (laughs). I first used to do that in school, and I like to do it from time to time.”
Speaking of school, Thakur’s baby steps in the sport happened at the sub-junior level. “There was this cousin of mine, Rakesh Kumar (not the Indian captain). He was a big Kabaddi player, and I sort of took after him,” he points out.
The fans aren’t the only ones who are after his autograph. Even his teammates vie for his signature, and a few call him the ‘Virat Kohli of Kabaddi’. But, Thakur is uncomfortable with that moniker. “This is the first time I’m hearing about that,” he mentions. “I don’t know about Virat Kohli, but I’m Ajay Thakur.”
A bit of a rockstar with a boy-next-door look, Thakur also confirmed rumours that he played with Typhoid last year. “Yes. I lost 11 kgs, but the team needed me, and that was most important.”