Mohit Chhillar: 10 things you need to know about the most expensive player in Star Sports Pro Kabaddi history
Fame, money and success coming together in one package is something everyone on this planet dreams about, but only a handful manage to get. Bengaluru Bulls’ young defender and star player Mohit Chhillar, who is just 22 years of age, certainly belongs to this category. He has been setting the mat alight with his astonishing performances in Star Sports Pro Kabaddi. Representing the Bengaluru Bulls in the league’s fourth season, Mohit is expected to scale new heights with the team from South India.
We thought it would be great if you got to know him better. Here are 10 things you should know about Bengaluru Bulls star Mohit Chhillar:
1) He comes from the hotbed of kabaddi, Nizampur, a village located close to national capital New Delhi.
2) Mohit credits his entry into the world of kabaddi to his uncle Sanjay, an international level player, who taught him how to play the sport and took him to games at a really early age. Coincidentally, his father was also a kabaddi player before he decided to take up a government job.
3) The area in which Mohit grew up did not have kabaddi academies or coaches and he had to take the help of senior players to master the art.
4) Mohit was unable to make it to Delhi’s state kabaddi team for the nationals. However, Delhi’s loss was Rajasthan’s gain as former Jaipur Pink Panthers captain Navneet Gautam asked him to come play for Rajasthan and that’s where he came into the limelight.
5) His star has continued to rise ever since he started playing in Star Sports Pro Kabaddi. He finished 6th in the list of the players with the most successful tackles in his debut season while moving up a spot each in the subsequent seasons scoring 30, 39 and 44 successful tackles, respectively, in the three campaigns.
6) Mohit’s exploits at the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi helped him achieve his dream of playing for India. After becoming a nightmare for raiders in the first 3 seasons, the 22-year-old finally made his Indian team debut at the South Asian Games in 2016, where he helped India win Gold.
7) After spending the first 3 seasons with U Mumba, Mohit Chhillar was snapped up by Bengaluru Bulls in the auction ahead of Season 4, making him the most expensive player in the history of the sport. The Bulls had to shell out a massive Rs. 53 lakhs to acquire his services, blowing the competition out of the water during the player auction held in May 2016.
8) He regards veteran players Rakesh Kumar and Manjeet Chhillar as his idols and looks up to them while constantly striving to improve his game. Apart from kabaddi, Mohit is extremely fond of cricket and is a massive fan of the man nicknamed the God of Cricket - Sachin Tendulkar. He dreams of meeting the master blaster one day.
9) An ardent fan of Bollywood, Mohit Chhillar grew up watching movies of Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan, two people who are his favourite actors in the world. Surely, the action portrayed by them in the movies helps him on the kabaddi mat.
10) A momma’s boy at heart, Mohit Chhillar says that he is at his most comfortable when eating meals cooked at home by his mother. A Nizampur local through and through, he also says that if he had to pick a place to go to, it would be back to his village.