Ajay Thakur: A new Kabaddi phenomenon in making
There was a time when his position in the team was questioned and now one cannot imagine the team without him. Be it Pro Kabaddi League or any international tournament this man continues to shine even if he does not get support from other raiders in the team. He is arguably one of the best and lethal raiders of the Indian Kabaddi and a backbone of team Tamil Thalaivas – Ajay Thakur.
Two years ago, 2016 Kabaddi World Cup proved to be a re-birth for Ajay Thakur. Because of his stupendous performance in the final match, India lifted the World Cup even after trailing by 8 points.
In the second half, his raid where he got both Meraj Sheykh and Fazel Atrachali out, changed the entire game in favor of India. Ajay proved to be a nightmare for the Iranian defense. He scored 68 raid points and was ‘Raider of the Tournament’.
Ajay Thakur, who belongs from Dabhota, Himachal Pradesh was bought by Tamil Thalaivas a new franchise in last season of PKL. He was the captain of the team for the first time. He scored 213 raid points and 9 tackle points from 22 matches.
He was like a lone warrior for the Tamil Thalaivas. In season 5, Tamil Thalaivas won against strong teams of the season like Gujrat Fortunegiants, Bengal Warriors, UP Yoddha and Patna Pirates courtesy of Ajay Thakur.
His last raid finish became a talking point and a guarantee of Tamil’s victory. This ‘Frog Jump’ inventor finished third in the list of the most raid points scorer of the season. He managed to do 10 Super 10’s.
Ajay, the Escape Artist, was part of Bengaluru Bulls in season 1 and 2 of PKL. In season 1 he scored 122 raid points from 15 matches with the help of 5 Super 10’s. He got injured in the season 2, but still managed to score 79 raid points in 13 matches and was the third highest raid points scorer.
Due to a knee injury, season 3 was not the best of the season for Ajay after the high standards which were set by him in first two seasons. Ajay could manage to score only 56 points from 14 matches. It was a huge disappointment for his fans. Even in the season 4, he scored only 63 raid points from 16 matches.
Ajay has 122 do-or-die raid points, which is the most by any player in PKL history. Ajay is one such player who attacks from the very first raid of the match. Ajay is an aggressive raider. Ajay is one of the tallest raiders of the Kabaddi with the height of 185 cm and has longest arms to reach to the mid-line.
He tries to draw out his team when in critical situations. He captained Tamil Thalaivas in last season and he lead the team from the front. Ajay Thakur had a great season with Tamil Thalaivas last year.
This season Tamil Thalaivas has bought players like Manjeet Chhillar, Sukesh Hegde, Jasvir Singh, Surjeet Singh due to which the team is looking much strong than the last season.
The new season of Pro Kabaddi is about to begin from 5th October in Chennai. Ajay’s Tamil Thalaivas will be taking on Telugu Titans in front of his home crowd. All Kabaddi fans will be expecting the same performance from Ajay Thakur.
Ajay Thakur’s Pro Kabaddi League Performance:
Matches Played – 80
Raid Points – 529 Points
Super 10’s – 21
Super Raids – 18