Narwal, 19, scored 47 points in seven matches during the World Cup.
For most in the Bengaluru Bulls team, it seemed that Pardeep Narwal was trying to squeeze out a few extra ounces of luck from the kabaddi mat. As is tradition, all kabaddi players bend to touch the ground when they walk onto the mat for practice or even a game. The 19-year-old did the same when he walked out on the first day of the Bulls’ pre-season training camp. Only, he wasn’t thinking of making the customary sweep of the floor with a brush of the fingers. Instead he poked the mat. “We thought he was nervous and was praying. But he had never seen a mat before! So he was actually checking to see how soft or hard it was,” recalls Bulls coach Randhir Singh Sehrawat uproariously.
A year later, on the very same type of mat at the Arena by Transstadia in Ahmedabad, Narwal emerged as the player the national team relied on to give them early starts in each game of their third successive World Cup triumph.
In an event that saw him start the tournament on the bench, his work rate and flair had him relegate 2014 Asian Games gold medallist Jasvir Singh to the bench and start each game. Including the final against Iran.
Advertisement
Though his contribution in the final wasn’t what was expected of him, India’s youngest player still finished the tournament among the top five raiders, scoring a massive 47 points in the seven games he played, including 14 in the semi-final against Thailand.
Interestingly enough, in the entire realm of the sport, Narwal was an unknown entity just over a year ago.
He had never featured in any district level team, let alone a state team for the national championships — as is the norm for players competing in the PKL. His first meeting with a prominent scout or coach was a freak chance at a local tournament in his village of Rathdhana near Sonepat.
Sehrawat had been invited to the event as chief guest, and his first glimpse of Narwal wasn’t the commanding approach the youngster makes into the opposition half from the left side of the court. Instead, it was a clumsy stumble right into the centre of the awaiting defenders. “The way he walked in, he was in easy range of all seven defenders. There was no way out of a tackle, but somehow, he managed it,” recalls Sehrawat, who has a reputation of picking up raw players and moulding them into international greats, such as Manjeet Chhillar and Rakesh Kumar. “If he could pull that off, I knew with a bit of training he could do much better,” he adds.
Advertisement
Narwal had never really travelled too far away from his village before, barring a rare trip to New Delhi. Sehrawat though, booked him onto a flight to Bangalore. “As soon as the flight took off, he looked out of the window and gripped the armrest. He kept muttering, ‘Hey Maa, Hey Maa,’” Sehrawat remembers, laughing.
Working on his parents’ farm while growing up, financial constraints didn’t allow him much luxury. At the same time, he was tentative about leaving home. “I told him I’d give him a trial in the first week. So he thought he’d get to go back home in a week. That’s why he agreed,” says the coach. “He was too good to let go.”
While most in India barely knew any kabaddi players when the PKL started, PKL didn’t know Narwal when he first appeared for the Bulls. Later on, he would feature for the Patna Pirates, winning two back-to-back titles. That’s when the World Cup call-up came.
He’s played an integral role for India in their defence of the title they won in 2004 and again in 2007. “What he’s done throughout the tournament is relieve the pressure from the senior players. We didn’t have a good start, but he started taking control of things and gave us seniors something to build upon,” asserts Ajay Thakur, who starred in the final and led India’s raiding options along with Narwal.
Advertisement
His off-court antics, too, had a role to play. Dharamraj Cheralathan, the 41-year-old defender was the usual victim of his ribbing. “We all stay away from ‘Anna’ out of respect. Pardeep goes to him and tells him to rest because he is old. Shaitaan hai Pardeep,” says Ajay Thakur. Narwal’s kabaddi CV now boasts of a World Cup medal as well. Still, Sehrawat remembers fondly the boy he picked up from a dusty village.
More so, the incredulous look the boy would give him when something new came his way. There was the first time on board an aircraft. Then the kabaddi mat. “When I first gave him kabaddi shoes, he spent about two minutes just staring at them, and smiling at them,” Sehrawat adds.
Narwal, 19, scored 47 points in seven matches during the World Cup.
