Pro Kabaddi Auction 2022: 5 things you may not know about PKL star raider Pawan Sehrawat
Pawan Sehrawat is one of the biggest match-winners in the sport of Kabaddi right now. He was a part of the Bengaluru Bulls over the last three seasons and helped the franchise win their maiden championship in season six.
Surprisingly, the Bulls have released Sehrawat ahead of the Pro Kabaddi Auction 2022. The reason behind his release is not yet known, but some fans feel that Sehrawat may have wanted to be a part of the auction pool this year. Last season, even Patna Pirates star Pardeep Narwal asked for his release despite being the number one raider and captain of the team.
It should not be a surprise if Pawan is among the most expensive players at this year's auction. Before the PKL 9 Auction gets underway, here's a list of five things you need to know about Sehrawat.
#1 Pawan Sehrawat has scored more than 1,000 points in Pro Kabaddi League
The Pro Kabaddi League began in 2014. Hundreds of players have been a part of this competition in the last eight years, but only five of them have managed to touch the 1,000 points milestone.
Pawan Sehrawat is one of them. He accomplished the feat last year while playing for the Bengaluru Bulls. So far, Sehrawat has scored 1,036 points in 104 matches, including 986 raid points.
#2 He completed a hat-trick as National Championships winning captain
Last month, Sehrawat led the Indian Railways team to their fourth consecutive Senior National Kabaddi Championships triumph. Sehrawat was their captain in the last three tournaments.
Winning the Senior National Championships even once is a dream for many players, but Pawan has won three back-to-back titles as skipper.
#3 He almost quit kabaddi once
Pawan started his PKL career at Bengaluru Bulls in season three. However, after the first three seasons of his career, his numbers were not the best. He was disappointed with himself and wanted to quit kabaddi.
In one of his previous interviews, Pawan credited Bengaluru coach Randhir Sehrawat for reviving his career. Pawan said:
"Before the auction, for three months he (Randhir) made me practice a lot. He used to come to my village and say, 'Pawan we will get you to our team.' He used video analysis to show me my shortcomings, got me to add the dubki and turn to my skill set, improve my reaction speed and made me do lots of workouts, a lot more running and raiding, including on sand."
#4 Pawan Sehrawat was once a part of the Gujarat Giants team
Back in 2017-18, Pawan was a member of the Gujarat Giants team. The Bulls released him ahead of the fifth edition of the league, and debutants Gujarat signed him for their first season.
Pawan did not receive enough opportunities to play for Gujarat. After warming the bench for most of the games, he was released by the Ahmedabad-based franchise ahead of season six.
#5 Pawan Sehrawat owns the record for the most points scored by a player in 1 PKL match
In a league stage match of PKL 2019 against the Haryana Steelers, Pawan set a new record for the most points scored by a player in a match. He scored a total of 39 points for the Bengaluru Bulls in that contest.
His extraordinary performance helped the Bulls register a massive 59-36 win over the Steelers. Notably, all the points scored by Pawan were raid points.