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‘Starting playing seriously in my village’: PKL 9 star Rakesh reveals how he developed ‘a huge interest in kabaddi’
Playing for Gujarat Giants, Rakesh has notched up 60 points in the ongoing PKL Season 9.
Considered to be one of the best raiders, Gujarat Giants' young star Rakesh has been in excellent form in PKL 9, bagging 60 points. He has also been crucial to his side's two wins in the ongoing season. Revealing how he developed an interest for kabaddi, the 20-year-old said, "I attained a huge interest in kabaddi after watching the second season of the vivo Pro Kabaddi League on television. I started playing the game seriously in my village that time."
In his debut 2021-22 season, he was in blistering form and sealed 140 points. Stating that there is no secret to his success, he said, "There's no secret. I practiced very well before the season and we underwent great training with our coach. We had a pre-season training camp in Gandhinagar for one and a half months. We practiced every morning and evening and our coach worked with us on every aspect of our game".
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"I don't feel any extra pressure. The team will start performing better in the upcoming matches. We have to work on our defense and I am certain that our defenders will put up good performances in the future", he further added.
Rakesh also picked Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh and Fazel Atrachali as the defenders he likes playing against. "My confidence in my abilities is higher than what it was last season. And I am determined to help my team win the trophy. I really enjoy playing against defenders such as Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh and Fazel Atrachali", he said.
