Pro Kabaddi League Season 6 - Baldev Singh: The beastly right corner of Bengal Warriors
"A tiger sleeps in the heart of every brave man." - Anonymous
This audacious defender recalled by the name 'Shila' had a lot of persistence before arriving to the main event, the Pro Kabaddi League. A right corner whose exploits are not witnessed with the ability to take raiders down with his agility combined with raw muscle. Bengal Warriors snapped a huge steal when they signed Nalagarh's pride, Baldev Singh at ₹12 lakhs.
Baldev Singh had Kabaddi inherited from his father; Shri Manjeet Singh who was a Kabaddi player in his prime. He was an ex-service Kabaddi player from the Indian Army who then had joined the Himachal Pradesh Police. Born on 27th March, 1993 in a beautiful village of Dabhota, Himachal Pradesh, Baldev is the son of Shakuntala Devi and Manjeet Singh who has actually learned Kabaddi with guidance from all-time greats who've already made a name for themselves in Kabaddi whether it be Ajay Thakur or Manpreet Singh.
Baldev was valiant during his childhood days with Kabaddi engraved on his heart. He unfolded his voyage as a second grader from his school days. His first coach was Rakesh Chandel who was the first international Kabaddi player from Dabhota to represent team India and a gold medalist during SAF Games 1995 (Madras, India). Baldev was adroit and competent from the start itself.
Known for his audacious defending throughout India, he received his training from Dabhota Sports Club and worked on his defensive skills. In 2009, Baldev's impressive show brought him to play from the Senior's level. He stayed in Sports Academy of India (SAI) hostel in Bilaspur from 2010 till 2014 where he got instructions by Shri. Om Prakash and Rattan Lal Thakur.
Baldev started playing the Nationals Championship level from 2013 representing Himachal Pradesh. He idolizes his closest companion, Ajay Thakur who hails from the same village. He is known to have played along with Ajay Thakur and Vishal Bhardwaj together in the Senior Nationals 2017-18. Even though Himachal couldn't make it to the playoffs, Baldev Singh captured a lot of eyeballs which propelled the team management of Bengal Warriors to meet his services.
Baldev regards a pinnacle point of his career as bringing the gold medal home when he represented team India in the International Invitational Men's Kabaddi Tournament held in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2017.
This courageous right corner defender is adept at executing back holds where he disrupts the raider and breaks his momentum to reach the midline. 'Shila' is also known to block the raiders with his body blocks and is also skilful in executing some splendid chain tackles.
Fans will get to witness boldest of defense when the duo of Ran Singh in the left corner and Baldev Singh into the right corner stand as pillars of the Bengal Warriors' defense. Driven by the spirit of warriors, Baldev's roar will definitely wake up the opposition raiders and bring shivers down their spines.