Revisiting the career of 'Showman' Rahul Chaudhari

'The Poster Boy of Kabaddi' was one of the most popular faces during the start of PKL.

Rahul Chaudhari also called the “showman” started his professional Kabaddi career in 2010. He represents Uttar Pradesh in the Senior National Championships and is also an important raider of the side. Rahul Chaudhari became popular after his successful stint in the Pro Kabaddi League representing Telugu Titans. He was a vital member of the Telugu Titans side for the first seasons and then shifted to Tamil Thalaivas.

He created several records but did not win a single PKL title in the first eight editions. Jaipur Pink Panthers brought the raider ahead of season 9 and ultimately went on to lift the title. Although he started playing professionally in 2010 he took up the sport at the age of 13 in 2006. The star raider from Uttar Pradesh was part of several medal-winning Indian sides with the important one being the 2016 gold medal-winning side.

PKL Career

Season 1

Matches - 14 | Total points - 161

Season 2

Matches - 14 | Total points - 107

Season 3

Matches - 13 | Total points - 99

Season 4

Matches - 16 | Total points - 150

Season 5

Matches - 22 | Total points - 193

Season 6

Matches - 21 | Total points - 166

Season 7

Matches - 22 | Total points - 138

Season 8

Matches - 07 | Total points - 13

Season 9

Matches - 21 | Total points - 73

He is one of the few players in PKL history to score more than 1000 raid points

Rahul Chaudhari has a tremendous start to his PKL career scoring 151 points and was the second-best raider only behind legend Anup Kumar. His form dipped in the upcoming seasons scoring 107 and 99 points in seasons 2 and 3 respectively. Telugu Titans needed their star raider to get back to form and in a similar way Rahul Chaudhari scored close to 150 raid points helping Titans finish inside the top two after the end of the league stage.

The time had come for Rahul Chaudhari to shift flanks with Telugu Titans releasing ahead of the season 7 auctions and was ultimately brought by Tamil Thalaivas. This was the phase where the showman wasn't showing any improvement in his form and many defenders found it easy to tackle him. He bounced back strongly in 2022 after a few years of a lean patch. He guided his state team to a gold medal at the National Games held in Gujarat just a week before the commencement of Pro Kabaddi League season 9. Rahul scored a super 10 in the semifinals and was also leading from the front.

He did not have a great time playing in PKL 9 but his experience might have helped a few youngsters in the squad. He ultimately went on to win the title which was eluding him for several seasons.

Total Points - 1100

Total Raid Points - 1039

If he crosses the 1100 raid points mark in the upcoming season, then he will become the third raider after Pardeep Narwal and Maninder Singh to get to the magical mark.

Achievements

Part of the 2016 World Cup winning squad

The first player ever to score 500, 700, and 800 raid points in the Pro Kabaddi League

Part of the 2016 South East Asian winning squad