Revisiting the career of 'Hi-Flyer' Pawan Sehrawat

He is the costliest player in PKL history.

Pawan Sehrawat has redefined himself and become one of the most sought-after players in the Indian Kabaddi circuit. The 27-year-old from New Delhi plays for the Indian railways in the senior championships and started playing in the Pro Kabaddi League in the third edition. He is nicknamed “Hi-Flyer” by kabaddi experts (jumps very high to evade the defenders). 

The star raider has represented three franchises in PKL starting with Bengaluru Bulls. Randhir Singh Sehrawat the current head coach of Bengaluru Bulls introduced Pawan Sehrawat and was instrumental in his success. Pawan Sehrawat’s career did not start on a bright note scoring only 45 raid points in 13 games and was thus put into the auction pool ahead of upcoming seasons. He was brought by Gujarat Fortune Giants head coach Manpreet Singh but was only used as a substitute on do-or-die raids.

Gujarat performed very well in season 5 and went on to reach the finals but Pawan did not find enough game time and success. He was once again sent to the auction pool ahead of season 6 and this time he was brought by his former franchise Bengaluru Bulls under coach Randhir Singh Sehrawat. Randhir used Pawan wisely and turned him into a superstar who went on to score 250 plus raid points. 

Randhir Singh Sehrawat was also the coach of Indian Railways and both share a good camaraderie as well. Apart from Pawan, the Bengaluru Bulls coach has shaped the careers of many kabaddi players the recent one being Bharat Hooda. Bharat Hooda hasn't played professional kabaddi in the past but the coach was hopeful of the player performing well by looking at his techniques. 

PKL Career

Season 3

Matches - 13 | Total points - 53

Season 4

Matches - 10 | Total points - 11

Season 5

Matches - 9 | Total points - 10

Season 6

Matches - 24 | Total points - 282

Season 7

Matches - 24 | Total points - 360

Season 8

Matches - 24 | Total points - 320

Season 9

Matches - 01 | Total points - 01

Pawan Sehrawat had scored close to 50 raid points combing seasons 3,4, and 5 but the transformational since then has been phenomenal. Bengaluru Bulls was unfortunate to leave him ahead of PKL season 9 and the coach was emotional seeing Pawan leave the franchise during the auctions. The coach and the player shared a beautiful bonding among themselves.

Pawan Sehrawat also guided Bengaluru Bulls to their maiden PKL title in season 6 under the captainship of Rohit Kumar. 

Pawan was sold to Tamil Thalaivas ahead of season 9 for a whopping 2.27 crores. Unfortunately, the player suffered from a knee injury in the first match making him sit out of the entire tournament.

Also, the star raider was part of the 2019 gold medal-winning national side at the South East Asian Games.

Achievements

MVP (Most Valuable Player) in season 8

Most Raid Points (2018,2019, and 2021)

Most points scored in a single match in PKL (39 points against Haryana Steelers)

The costliest player in the history of PKL (2.27 crores)