A glance at phenomenal career of India's top raider Ajay Thakur

His performance in the 2016 World Cup final was exceptional.

Ajay Thakur, the former Indian national Kabaddi player played an important role in the 2010s and was part of several medal-winning sides. The star raider from Himachal Pradesh rose to prominence after guiding India to the third successive World Cup victory defeating Iran in the finals. Ajay Thakur took up the sport after looking at his cousin Rakesh player (who has also represented India in the past). The raider in the initial days played for Air India at the national Industrial championships and played the Senior National Championships for Himachal Pradesh (who last led the state in 2020).

He was the number one raider for the Indian team ahead of Pardeep Narwal, Anup Kumar and Rahul Chaudhari. India played Iran in the finals and was trailing by a considerable amount of points. Ajay Thakur turned things upside down putting in a four-point raid which was the decisive moment of the match allowing India to gain momentum towards the fag end of the match. Ajay Thakur was also the top scorer of the tournament scoring 68 raid points and was the player of the tournament as well.

Apart from winning the gold medal at the World Cup, he was also part of several multi-sporting events like the Asian Games (2014 gold medal, 2018 bronze medal). He led the Indian team at the 2017 Asian Kabaddi Championships held in Iran and his maiden stint as captain won the gold medal. The star raider was conferred with the Arjuna award in 2019 and in the same year was conferred the Padma Shri (India’s fourth highest civilian award). 

PKL Career

Season 1

Matches - 15 | Total Points - 127

Season 2

Matches - 13 | Total Points - 80

Season 3

Matches - 14 | Total Points - 56

Season 4

Matches - 16 | Total Points - 64

Season 5

Matches - 22 | Total Points - 222

Season 6

Matches - 22 | Total Points - 204

Season 7

Matches - 13 | Total Points - 58

Season 8

Matches - 5 | Total Points - 5

Ajay Thakur in eight seasons represented four different franchises starting with Bengaluru Bulls in the inaugural season and then shifting over to Puneri Paltan. After the inclusion of four new sides in season 5, Ajay Thakur was brought by Tamil Thalaivas. His most successful seasons were 5 and 6 and led the Tamil Thalaivas side as well. Although he enjoyed large success as a raider the team languished at the bottom of the points table.

He was the only raider from Tamil Thaliavas to breach the 200 raid points mark but Narender Kondala brought back glory becoming the second player to score 200 raid points in a single season for Tamil Thalaivas. The southern side released the raider ahead of season 8 and was brought by the Dabang Delhi KC for a whopping 46 lakhs. He couldn't do justice to the price tag and left the side halfway.

Awards

Arjuna Award and Padma Shri (2019)

Gold Medal - 2014 Asian Games and Bronze medal - 2018 Asian Games

Gold Medal - 2016 kabaddi World Cup, Gold Medal - 2018 Dubai Kabaddi Masters and 2017 Asian Kabaddi Championships

Top Raider in the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup scoring 68 raid points

Ajay Thakur is also the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Himachal Pradesh