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Arjun Deshwal is set to give his best in the 20th edition of the Pro Kabaddi League for Jaipur Pink Panthers, which will be starting from the 2nd Of December.
With just a little over a couple of weeks to go for the start of the Pro Kabaddi 2023, Arjun Deshwal is set to repeat his performances from the previous season, where he won the MVP award and helped Jaipur Pink Panthers to claim their second title win. The star player for the Jaipur-based franchise talked about the journey he had in the league, from the early part of his career till the current stage with Jaipur Pink Panthers as a star performer.
Deshwal spoke about the league’s milestone of achieving ten seasons and spoke highly of the success of the league. Deshwal wished the best for the rise of the league in the upcoming days. “I feel really happy to see the league reaching this milestone. The level of kabaddi has seen a great rise since PKL was first launched and it will keep rising in the future,” said the Jaipur raider.
Deshwal added that as a youngster he was watching the league on the TV and aimed at playing in the league once in his life. Deshwal said that he started practicing for the same and got his breakthrough in the tournament.
“I used to watch the matches in the initial seasons on TV and hoped that one day I would get to play at that level. I started practicing regularly and eventually got my dream breakthrough in PKL,” added Deshwal.
Deshwal started his journey in the league in 2018, where he was picked by U Mumba. He played a couple of seasons with the Mumbai-based franchise and joined Jaipur Pink Panthers for season 8. In the auctions, Deshwal was bought for a huge price of ₹96 lakhs. Deshwal shared the experience of him being picked by the Panthers. Deshwal described that it was an unbelievable moment for him and took some time to digest it.
Deshwal said that he celebrated the moment with his friends and family. “I was watching the auction and when I saw that I was being sold to Jaipur Pink Panthers for that amount, at first, I couldn’t believe it. When the reality kicked in, I was extremely happy and so was everyone around me, my family and my friends,” added the MVP of the ninth season of the PKL.
Deshwal spoke about the best season of his career so far. There were no surprises in him picking the most recent season, in which he won the MVP of the season and helped his team to win the title. “It has to be the last season. I was adjudged the Best Raider as well as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and our team also managed to clinch the trophy in the end,” stated Deshwal.
In the season, Deshwal was the star performer with 296 raid points in 24 matches. It led to the title win of the team and helped him to fetch the MVP of the season award. Deshwal spoke about the training facilities, and evolution of the sport and players over the years. There are also several targets set by Deshwal for the upcoming season of the biggest Kabaddi league.
“Since the league has come in we have consistently gotten the opportunity year after year to play at the highest level. We have also gotten really good training facilities over the seasons and I feel that has helped us a lot in improving our overall strength and the game,”
Deshwal spoke about the opportunity for growth in the sport.
Deshwal hoped of winning the title and the MVP award again with the Pink Panthers.
“I believe every player should set a target for the season to bring out the best of themselves. For me, I want to play the final and win the championship for my team once again. I would like to win the MVP award for the second time running too,” Deshwal said.
The tenth season of the league will be taking place from the 2nd of December. In the inaugural match of the season, Telugu Titans with the new star in their lineup will be taking on Gujarat Giants in Ahmedabad. This time around, the home-away format will be followed in the league, as 12 cities are set to host the matches in the milestone edition of the league.
