The game of Kabaddi was invented in India and was first officially played in the 1920s. However, it gained mass popularity as a competitive sport in the year 2014, thanks to Charu Sharma’s idea of commercializing the sport in the form of Pro Kabaddi League. Since its commencement, PKL has inspired a lot of youngsters to opt playing Kabaddi as a successful career. One of PKL’s product who has done wonders for even the Indian Kabaddi team is Ajay Thakur. Ajay is one of the finest raiders India has ever seen and has been an asset for every team he has represented in the Pro Kabaddi League. With the ongoing fever of Kabaddi, let us have a look at some of the Ajay Thakur records in the Pro Kabaddi League.
63rd Most number of Super 10s (28)
Ajay Thakur holds the record of being the 3rd most successful raiders in terms of scoring Super 10s in PKL. A Super 10 means gaining 10 raid points in the same match individually as a raider/defender. Ajay’s talent has helped him in doing this on 28 occasions in 6 seasons. Ajay also achieved a Super 10 in the all-important final of Kabaddi World Cup 2016 in Ahmedabad, and won the trophy for India.
55th Most number of Super Raids (21)
A super raid is the raid in which a raider is able to fetch 3 or more points from the opposition in a single raid. Ajay has 21 super raids to his name in the Pro Kabaddi League, which is the fifth most by any raider in this league. Patna Pirates’ Pardeep Narwal tops this list with 38 super raids in 85 matches to his name.
44th Most Overall Points (753 points)
Ajay is the 4th most successful athletes in terms of individual points obtained. In total, he has 753 points in his account, out of which 21 have been obtained while tackling. This makes him one of the most lethal Kabaddi players in the league.
33rd Most successful raider in the 2015 and 2017 seasons
The 32 year old was the 3rd most successful raiders for two seasons- 2015 & 2017. In the 2015 season, he had 79 points to his name for Bengaluru Bulls. Whereas, in the 2015 season, he was bought by the Franchise Tamil Thalaivas and registered 213 points!
23rd Most number of successful raids (593)
Ajay Thakur has been one of those players you would always to have in the team. He has the capability of changing the course of match in just a few seconds. Ajay Thakur has the record of being the 3rd most successful raiders in all the seasons of PKL (in terms of successful raids). He has 593 successful raids to his name, 86 less than Rahul Chaudhury, who leads this table with 679 successful raids in his 100 appearances.
13rd Most Raid points (732)
Thakur has a unique way of getting raid points. His frog jump and hand touch point style makes him deadly for the opponents. And his frog jump has earned him the most number points. He has 732 raid points in 6 seasons to his name, which is the third most by raider in Pro Kabaddi League. He was in his prime form in the first 2 seasons. However, he had a rough patch in the middle and lost a bit of form, but still managed to comeback effectively in the previous season.
Ajay aiming for the title this year
Looking at these records, we all can agree players like Ajay Thakur are just not easily discovered. They lift the spirits of everyone in the team and give the momentum you are looking for in order to stay in the fast-paced game like Kabaddi. Ajay’s agility is something which is very unique.
He uses his height, strength and flexibility accurately to easily steal points from the opponents. For Tamil Thalaivas, Ajay was the pick of the raiders, although didn’t even have a successful season last time. In the coming season, Ajay would surely aim to get Tamil Thalaivas across the line and lead his team to an emphatic victory in the tournament as he is yet to open his account in being apart of the champion team in PKL.
