Pawan Sehrawat reveals his captaincy style after leading India to Asian Kabaddi Championships title

Bellary, July 6 Star raider Pawan Sehrawat, who recently led India to the Asian Kabaddi Championships title, has revealed his captaincy style, saying that he always looks to lead from the front with an aggressive approach and tries to exploit the opponent's weaknesses.

India reclaimed the Asian Kabaddi Championship title after beating Iran 42-32 in the final at the Dong-Eui Institute of Technology Seokdang Cultural Center in Busan, Republic of Korea, last week. It was India's eighth title in the last nine editions played so far while Iran won the title once, in 2003.

The tournament saw the 26-year-old kabaddi star in competitive action for the first time since an ACL injury sustained in the opening stages of the 2022 Pro Kabaddi League.

"I was making sure I was giving clear instructions to the new players part of the squad, especially the new raiders like Aslam Inamdar and Arjun Deshwal. As a captain, I always look to exploit the opponent’s weaknesses to clinch the victory. So, for every player we had devised distinct game plans to help them optimise and maximise their effectiveness in the game," said skipper Sehrawat.

Fondly known as 'Hi-Flyer' for his stupendous raiding ability, Pawan returned to action at the Asian Kabaddi Championships after an eight-month injury lay-off and he aimed to return stronger than ever.

"My objective was to return from the injury stronger than ever. All my coaches were very supportive and formulated a training plan for me that helped improve my performance and technique while making sure I do not overexert and injure myself," Sehrawat was quoted as saying in a media release.

"I did my rehab with JSW Sports at the Inspire Institute of Sport, and the trainer there helped me identify my weak points and guided me to work on improving them which allowed me to put in dominant performances at the Championships on my return. I also made sure that I surrounded myself with positive people during my rehab at JSW which I believe helped me heal faster," he added.

Sehrawat was instrumental as he led from the front with a super 10 raid in a high-octane final against Iran that ended 42-32 in favour of India.

"I do not let any pressure faze me, I made sure I was laser-focused on the game. Whether it's a national tournament or an international tournament, I always have a clear game plan for me to execute. I improvise and adapt my game plan according to the coach’s directives which helps me push myself and help my teammates whenever it’s needed during the match," he said.

"I will always look to lead from the front and I have an aggressive approach to each game. I have a very strong fighting spirit so I will make sure I stand up for my teammates and myself no matter the situation," he added.

The Pro Kabaddi League star is now eagerly waiting for the new season of the competition.

"I was not able to utilise all my energy for Season 9 of PKL due to injury. So I am very excited about season 10 because I have a lot of pent-up energy that I cannot wait to unleash on the mat. So, now I am eagerly waiting for the season to start so that I can showcase how much I have improved as a player," said Sehrawat.

Pawan also spoke about the upcoming Asian Games that will be held in Hangzhou later in September.

"I still believe we have to work a lot on improving our defence as a team because I was not completely satisfied with some of our performances at the Asian Championships. The Asian Games are going to be more challenging so we need to refocus and put in maximum effort during the upcoming camp so that we can dominate our opponents at the competition. Nonetheless, we will make sure we devise a game plan for each team at the tournament, we will approach each game after a lot of preparation and complete concentration," he concluded.