Exclusive: Ajay Thakur leaves Dabang Delhi camp mid-season

The star raider was unhappy with his game-time during the ongoing season.

Experienced raider Ajay Thakur has left the Pro Kabaddi League outfit Dabang Delhi amidst the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League Season 8. Early whispers suggest that the player had disagreements with the amount of playing time he was getting in the PKL this year. As a result, he has left the bio-bubble in Bengaluru, which comes as a blow to the aspirations of the team.

"Ajay left the bio-bubble a week ago and is unlikely to take part in the league for the rest of the season," a source close to the developments informed Khel Now.

The issue becomes more complicated because if Ajay Thakur wants to return to the league, he must go through a compulsory 14-day quarantine. This effectively means his time in Season 8 of the PKL has come to an end. The management at Dabang Delhi will need to carefully think of their course of action in the forthcoming days. Incidents like these could easily derail their campaign and negatively affect the morale of the players. 

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A look at the numbers

Ajay Thakur is one of the respected players in the Kabaddi circuit, who has featured in the PKL since 2014 because of his incredible talent. He scored more than 200 points twice in a single season in the PKL’s history. In the past, Thakur has played for teams like Bengaluru Bulls, Puneri Paltan and Tamil Thalaivas. He was picked up for Dabang Delhi this year, hoping to guide the team to a maiden PKL title. 

However, until now, he had managed only five appearances this season. During that process, Ajay made a total of 13 raids, scoring five points for the team. Naveen Kumar turned out to be the star raider this year for Dabang Delhi. He became the quickest player ever to reach the 500-point mark. He took charge of raiding and has managed 135 points in the division, the fourth highest. 

Due to Ajay Thakur leaving the bio-bubble and effectively ending his PKL stint for the season, the outfit will be left weighing their options. This will certainly add more pressure on Naveen Kumar to elevate his performances and remain injury-free. A lack of support in the raiding department could also lead to the team’s downfall. 

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