Naveen Kumar found a career in kabaddi due to his 'grandfather', How was he named 'Express'?
The 11th season of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) begins on October 18. Dabang Delhi will take on U Mumba in its first match. Naveen Kumar is a star player in the Dabang Delhi franchise. He was part of the Indian Kabaddi team, which won a Gold medal at the Asian Games in 2023. Naveen, fondly known as ‘Naveen Express’ got an interest in Kabaddi due to his grandfather.
In a recent interview, Naveen said he considers Ajay Thakur his idol. Ever since he saw Pro Kabaddi, he has been a fan of Ajay’s technique and has learned so much from him.
Naveen Kumar’s studies and Kabaddi
He got a job as soon as he completed his 12th class. He joined the Indian AirForce. He used to play Kabaddi there too. During his service, he met Gujarat Giants coach Ram Meher Singh (Arjuna Awardee) and he learned under his patronage and went ahead.
Naveen also said that everyone was happy when I got selected for the PKL. The villagers were happy too and sweets were distributed. Perhaps I was the first player from my village who was going to play pro kabaddi.
The story behind being named 'Naveen Express'
Interestingly Naveen said he has a lot of senior players in his batch, so earlier he used to play at the corner position. He used to play well and learned from his seniors. Once his senior player gave him a chance to raid and his footwork was good. And due to his speedy footwork, he was named the ‘Naveen Express.’
Naveen also stated that he was not good at his studies anyway. If he didn’t play Kabaddi, then he would have been in military, which he is still in as he has an AirForce job. He said it is good enough to get a chance to serve the country along with the sport. Both work is going on simultaneously.
In the final at the Asian Games 2023, Naveen played a crucial role in winning Gold for India. Meanwhile, fans can watch him live during the 11th season of the Pro Kabaddi League.
Grandfather's role in Naveen’s Kabaddi career?
When he was in the 6th or 7th class, he used to go to play to avoid studying. At that time, a government campaign for sports ran in his village, in which players were assured to be given an amount of 1000 to 2500 if they scored the most points. Luckily, Naveen participated and was selected.
It turned out that, to get the money he had to go to the stadium for the practice. To avoid teachers and study, he went to the stadium. There too, the coach was standing with a stick, and out of fear he didn’t go to the practice. His grandfather came to know about all this and went to the stadium. Naveen’s grandfather assured the coach that he would come for the practice every day just so as not to scare him off with a stick.
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