PKL 2019 | Abhishek Singh lives up to expectation in second season with U Mumba
Abhishek Singh made his PKL debut last season as a second-choice raider in the U Mumba line-up which had Siddharth Desai as their primary option in the raiding department. However, without a big name in their raiding department, Abhishek took charge of the raids and delivered the goods as well.
After having a decent start to his PKL career with the U Mumba unit last season, Abhishek Singh was not retained by the management, just like Mumba’s last year's sensation Siddharth Desai, in Elite Player Retention before the PKL auctions in April this year. Arjun Deshwal was the only raider who was retained along with defenders Fazel Atrachali and Rajguru Subramaniam.
However, in the auctions, the management had a plan of bringing him into the team for the second consecutive season and they got him for a very less price of only 10 lakh rupees, by using the Final Bid Match (FBM) card, whereas players like Rohit Baliyan, Dong Geon Lee and Athul MS were roped in for Rs 35 lakh, Rs 25 lakh, and Rs 20 lakh respectively. But, out of all the raiders in the team, Abhishek has starred for the Mumbai-based franchise this season with a total of 125 points from 18 games and is at eighth place on the list of best raiders of the season. Abhishek is delighted with the support that he's received from the management. He expressed his happiness after doing well for the second consecutive season with U Mumba in an exclusive interview with SportsCafe.
“Now the atmosphere is very good in the team. Now we are in the playoffs as well. We are at the fourth position and are very happy,” Abhishek told SportsCafe.
“When one does well then he feels very happy. The management and the team have a very important role to make us play and that is where they are crucial. Last season, I was playing as a supporting raider and this time, the management has allowed us to express freely on the mat.”
© PKLThe 20-year-old raider from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, who started playing the sport while in school, has had a roller-coaster ride so far. He had left playing kabaddi while in school to concentrate on his studies but kabaddi didn’t leave him. He was attracted to the mat again by watching his friends playing the indigenous sport in his village.
The biggest change for his career happened when his cousin Gajendra Pratap Singh, who is a coach with the Uttar Pradesh Police team, advised him to take up the sport professionally and also made him train with the UP Police players.
“When I felt that I can do something in kabaddi, I started concentrating on that and my cousin in UP police helped me a lot. He made me practice with the UP Police team. After doing well in the districts, I was selected in the senior UP team and played 2017-18 National Championships in Hyderabad,” explained Abhishek.
Talking about his first Guru in kabaddi – his cousin Gajendra Pratap, Abhishek said, “I follow him and listen to him. He keeps on telling me about my mistakes even now. We get on a call and discuss that.”
After the senior nationals, he found a place in the Indian camp where he trained for one month and was included in the U Mumba team through auctions in 2018. In his debut season, Abhishek, who played as the second raider after Siddharth Desai, played only 15 games and collected 47 raid points. This is his second year under their Iranian skipper Fazel Atrachali and the UP youngster is quite impressed with the way the left corner has led the side in the two seasons.
© PKL“Fazel bhai was our captain in the last season as well and he has been a very good leader for us. He behaves very nicely with us both on and off the mat. He keeps a close eye on the game and tells us when to go for an empty raid and when to collect a point or whom to target first. Even we get tackled, he doesn’t put any pressure and allows us to play freely,” expressed the young raider.
U Mumba had also changed their chief coach by replacing Iranian Gholamreza Mazandarani with former international raider Sanjeev Kumar Baliyan. With him being at the helm, the raiders in the U Mumba side have the right man to guide them throughout the league. Speaking about other raiders in the team, Abhishek said, “All our raiders are very good. In one match one does well and someone else shines in the other game. That is a very good thing for the team as we are not dependent on any particular raider.”
“Sanjeev coach saahab was a great player during his days and he shares his experience with us. His inputs on breaking the oppositions’ defence are very crucial for us as he keeps on giving us tips and keeps on advising us.”
India’s raiding superstar Ajay Thakur is Abhishek’s idol and the young lad from UP has been following Thakur from the first season of the league in 2014. Now, in the seventh season, the young raider is above his idol on the list of the top raiders in season 7. Although it has been a good two and half months for him so far in PKL 7, the most important thing still remains and that is taking the team into the final and winning the league on October 19.