When Ajay Thakur gave away his INR 25,000 'Best Raider' prize to Rahul Chaudhari
Tamil Thalaivas' captain Ajay Thakur recently appeared on Pro Kabaddi League's Instagram show Beyond The Mat - Season II, where he recalled a moment from the early days of Rahul Chaudhari's career. Thakur was playing in a tournament at Panvel, Mahrashtra along with Chaudhari.
Both raiders had performed exceptionally well, but the organizers gave the 'Best Raider' award to Ajay Thakur, leaving Rahul Chaudhari a little disappointed. However, Thakur ensured that he received the deserving award.
Ajay Thakur says Rahul Chaudhari's enthusiasm in that competition had won his heart
During the first season of Beyond The Mat show, Rahul Chaudhari had originally narrated this intriguing incident. Shedding more light on why he gave away his award to Rahul, Ajay Thakur said:
"There was a tournament in Panvel. Back then, we were popular youngsters like Naveen Kumar, Pawan Sehrawat, Vikash Khandola, and Siddharth Desai are right now. Rahul and Deepak were very new at that time. I used to feel back then that even my juniors should perform well. I was the main raider for Air India at that point."
"I used to send Rahul to raid a lot. We were both scoring points equally, but I let him raid more since he was more enthusiastic. Before the tournament, I told him that you would be the best raider of this tournament, which encouraged him further. He outscored me in the final, but I was one of the popular players back then. They asked who should be the best player and everyone shouted my name. They eventually gave me the award. When I looked at Rahul, he looked dejected since he was expecting to win. I went on the stage and said I think Rahul Chaudhari deserves this award," he continued.
Ajay Thakur called Rahul Chaudhari on the stage and presented him with the award. He told him that he deserved the award because of his excellent performance in the tournament.
The former Indian kabaddi team captain pointed out that had he kept the reward of INR 25,000 with him at that time, it would always play on his mind. It should be noted that Ajay Thakur earned only INR 15,000 per month when he competed in that tournament.
Rahul Chaudhari insisted him to divide the prize money, but being the big-hearted person he is, Ajay Thakur let him have the entire amount.