CHENNAI: Connect Carlos Moya, Stan Wawrinka, MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar. At first, it does not jump at you but these four sportspersons have, in one way, shape or form, been adopted by the people of Chennai. All four of them, because of their achievements here, started having a cult following in the city.
A fifth may soon join the abovementioned four and his identity couldn’t be any more surprising — Tamil Thalaivas’ Ajay Thakur, who has been one of the most consistent raiders since the inception of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). The 31-year-old, who played a big role in India winning the World Cup last year, has already emerged as a fan favourite among the masses.
“I am a sucker for all sports and that’s how I started watching kabaddi,” S Ramanathan, a retired bank employee who watched Thalaivas’ match on Sunday, says.
“In the first season, I loved to watch Thakur. He was really good... fast, used his tricks well and was not one of those raiders who would waste time in the opening half.” Parts of the Chennai crowd (there have been robust ticket sales on all days) subscribed to that theory on Wednesday.
Plenty of A3 size posters dedicated to Thakur could be seen, with lots of messages in Tamil. It was clear right from the first minute that Thakur, who went to Thalaivas for Rs 69 lakh at the auctions earlier this year, was going to be the main attraction.
Whenever he raided, the noise picked up inside the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium. While he was rather good — one of the few from Thalaivas who was on the money — the team’s defensive structure let them down at crucial junctures (they need a mini-miracle to qualify for the playoffs).
While the Thalaivas management conceded as much, Thakur had special praise for the crowd. “I have played for Bengaluru and Pune and there were crowds there as well. But nowhere have I seen such turnout, all supporting me and the team. I want to say thanks,” he said. He also credited the fans for not abusing the team. “When I was with other teams, fans would start commenting mean things as soon as we started losing.
These fans have not been like that.” Coach K Baskaran sang from the same hymn sheet.
“The crowd have been really good to us. If anything, they put more pressure on us to perform and we have let them down. Every day we have been coming anticipating lesser turnout because of our losing streak. But the support for us increased. Hopefully, we start winning pretty soon.” The Chennai leg finishes on Thursday. Wednesday’s results: Haryana Steelers bt U Mumba 41-30; UP Yoddha bt Tamil Thailaivas 37-33.
swaroop@newindianexpress.com