Three facts you should know about defender Vishal Bhardwaj

This Himachal Pradesh native has carved a niche for himself in the PKL in a very short span of time.

Defense is very important aspect in Kabaddi. Till now there have been many legendary defenders in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). If we talk about the league then legendary defenders like Manjit Chhillar, Ravinder Pahal, Jeeva Kumar, Nitesh Kumar, Fazal Atrachali, Baldev Singh and Pravesh Bhainswal - all have shown their flair. Apart from all this, young defender Vishal Bhardwaj has also impressed a lot.

Hailing from Himachal Pradesh, Vishal has proven himself to be one of the best defenders of the Pro Kabaddi League while playing for Telugu Titans. Vishal is the first player in PKL history to score 60 or more tackle points in three consecutive seasons. He is an ankle hold specialist and his timing is excellent.

In this article, we tell you about the journey of Vishal Bhardwaj in the Pro Kabaddi League so far.

Started from scratch

Born on January 1, 1997 in Una, Himachal Pradesh, Vishal Bhardwaj initially started playing Kabaddi at the school level. While all his friends loved cricket very much it was Kabaddi that interested him. He started playing Kabaddi from the eighth grade. He represented his school team in Inter School Kabaddi tournaments. After performing well there, he performed the same in college as well.

Seeing Vishal's talent, he was sent to Bilaspur for better training. There too, he consistently gave excellent performances and in 2016 he was selected for the Junior National Team. He represented the Indian team in three major junior kabaddi tournaments and even won a gold medal.

Dream start

Vishal Bhardwaj started his Pro Kabaddi League career in the fourth season with the Telugu Titans . He played for the Hyderabad-based team for four consecutive seasons and even captained the team in the sixth season. At the age of just 21, he led the team and also showed excellent game in defence.

Vishal Bhardwaj did not have a good debut season in PKL and got a chance to play in only two matches in which he scored seven points.

Incredible performance in the Fifth Season

Telugu Titans retained Vishal Bhardwaj for the fifth season and he did a great job that season. Bhardwaj scored an aggregate of 71 points in 22 matches and was the third-best defender of the season. He was the backbone of his team's defense and provided excellent performances match in match out.

Seeing his excellent performances, he was made the captain of Telugu Titans in the sixth season and his performance in that season was also very good. He scored 60 tackle points in 17 matches. Vishal Bhardwaj showed a lot of maturity while captaining at the age of just 21. However, due to lack of support from other players, the Telugu Titans failed to perform to their expectations and they could not qualify for the semi-finals.

For more updates, follow Khel Now Kabaddi on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and join our community on Telegram.