The beauty of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi (PKL) as a league is that it produces the most unlikely of heroes, who come from unique backgrounds and make a name for themselves. One such hero in the making is U Mumba defender Surjeet. A Services player, Surjeet played for Puneri Paltan previously before joining 3-time finalists U Mumba for Season 4 of the PKL.
Here are 10 things about the Services man, who is in his second season of the tournament:
1) Surjeet was born to a farming family on 10 August 1990 in a little-known village called Kathura, which is located in Sonipat, Haryana. His mother is a housewife while his father tends the farms in the village.
2) His first tryst with kabaddi happened in his native village when he saw some local matches, which kindled his interest in the game. The region he belongs to has produced some exceptional kabaddi players like Rakesh Kumar, Om Prakash Narwal, Sonu Narwal and Samsher Narwal and that peaked his interest further.
3) As a youngster, Surjeet saw the two veterans of Indian Kabaddi - Rakesh Kumar and Anup Kumar - play and it inspired him to become a professional kabaddi player. By the time he turned 17, Surjeet had already played senior nationals, following which he was drafted in the Services team.
4) He credits the success he has achieved in kabaddi to the support he got from his family. His parents, who worked hard to make ends meet, ensured Surjeet’s journey in kabaddi went without any hindrance.
5) Quite interestingly, Surjeet is a Hawaldar in the Indian Navy. He has worked at the Naval Base in Mumbai for 7 years and by his admission, fallen in love with the city of dreams.
6) In his first season in PKL, he played for Puneri Paltan and was mighty impressed by Manjeet Chhillar, who he thinks is the best defender in the league. During his time in Pune, he became close friends with Yogesh Hooda and Ravi Kumar.
7) He considers his tackle on Bengaluru Bulls’ raider Rohit Kumar that won U Mumba the match in Pro Kabaddi 4 as the best of his career. The game was in its dying moments and Surjeet produced a stunning body block to stop Rohit Kumar and give his team a crucial win.
Rakesh Kumar recalled that tackle and revealed what was going through Surjeet’s mind then, “Right before the raid Surjeet told me and Anup – ‘Nobody come in between. I will go and tackle him!’ and he successfully did.”
8) Surjeet is a pure vegetarian and loves having Indian food. His favourite breakfast item is Aloo ka Paratha while he loves having dal and rice too.
9) He loves watching films and listening to music as well. Surjeet is a big fan of Punjabi singers Babu Mann and Diljit Dosanjh while he loves watching Sunny Deol films due to the action it contains.
10) The sport other than kabaddi that Surjeet follows is football and he idolises Cristiano Ronaldo and Sachin Tendulkar. However, if he was forced to pick one, Surjeet revealed that he would prefer meeting the Master Blaster over the Portuguese superstar.
