Pawan Kumar Sehrawat emerged as one of the most promising Kabaddi players of Indian a couple of years back. He changed the course of the final game of Pro Kabaddi Season 6 when Bengaluru Bulls were on the backfoot against Gujarat Fortune Giants during halftime. Pawan launched a full attack on Gujarat in the second half of the match and racked up 22 raid points in the match to lead the way for Bengaluru Bulls' maiden PKL title.
The Most Valuable Player of PKL Season 6 is turning a year older today. Let us get to know some interesting facts about the amazing player.
1. Pawan was born on 9th July 1996 in New Delhi and started practicing Kabaddi from the age of 12 years. While his mother wanted him to focus on education, Pawan was more interested in playing Kabaddi. He decided to take the sport seriously in his 9th class and started practicing accordingly.
2. He started as a defender due to his heftier build and went on to play school nationals and then All India University Games. During his graduation, Pawan was spotted by the current coach of Bengaluru Bulls, Randhir Singh Sehrawat when the youngster was giving his trails for Northern Railway. Randhir did not miss the chance to take Pawan under his wing and got Pawan a job at a TTE with the Indian Railways.
3. Randhir trained Pawan to be a raider after seeing his ability to score easy points due to his long reach. During the time, Pawan also went on to represent the Railways Sports Promotion Board in the Senior Nationals.
4. At the age of 19 in 2016, Pawan was signed up by Bengaluru Bulls in Pro Kabaddi and made his debut for them in 2016 January. In his debut season, Pawan was part of the starting seven in 13 of the 14 games and went on to become the leading raider for the team with 45 raid points.
5. The next season saw him sidelined from the team as a result of match-winning players like Rohit Kumar and Deepak Kumar Dahiya. However, Pawan took this as an opportunity to sharpen his skills and grow as a player. Before PKL Season 5, Pawan was bought by Gujarat Fortunegiants but did not get enough opportunities on the mat. In 9 matches, he only scored 10 points to have yet another below-par season.
6. Randhir brought Pawan back to Bengaluru Bulls before Pro Kabaddi Season 6 for a huge sum of Rs. 52.8 lakh. He was the costliest buy for the team that year and that investment did not go in vain. Pawan went on to score a total of 282 points (271 raid points) during the season and was a major contributor in the Bulls' winning the title that year. He was named the MVP Of Pro Kabaddi Season 6 and got accolades from all the sports industry.
7. The following season saw a similar run by the ace raider as he went on to score 346 raid points to again be the top defenders of the season. He also went on to break Pardeep Narwal's record of most points in a match when Pawan scored 39 points against Haryana Steelers in Panchkula on 2nd October 2019. While the team failed to reach the finals, Pawan remained the star player for Bengaluru Bulls.
8. Pawan has made a place for himself in the top payers of the league in a short period. He has 716 points to his name from 80 PKL matches, the sixth-most by any player. With 26 Super Raids, Pawan is second only to Pardeep Narwal in the list of most Super Raids and stands fifth with 31 Super 10s to his name.
9. Owing to his performance in the league, Pawan was selected in the Indian men's Kabaddi for the 2019 South Asian Games. Not only that, but he was also named the deputy to Deepak Niwas Hooda. While India went on to win the gold medal at the tournament, Pawan was one of the leading raiders.
10. In the national circuit, Pawan is a part of the Railways team and plays as a lead raider for the team. He played a major role in their title win at the 67th Senior National Kabaddi Championships in Jaipur in March 2020. With 59 raid points, he was the third-best raider of the tournament and the top raider for Railways.
