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Pro Kabaddi 2022 (PKL) is currently underway, where 12 franchises are competing against each other to become champions. The first half of the tournament, which is already over, presented kabaddi lovers with some incredible matches.
PKL 2022 also marked the return of fans to the stadiums. For the first time since 2019, the matches are taking place in front of a packed house. Along with fans, offline press conferences have also made a return this year.
A majority of the PKL press conferences took place virtually in the previous season, but journalists have now been allowed to speak with players and coaches in-person. Several interesting comments have been made in the press conferences conducted thus far, and here's a list of three of them.
#1 Why Randhir Sehrawat blocked Pawan Sehrawat on social media
Bengaluru Bulls coach Randhir Sehrawat disclosed during a press conference that he generally blocks his good friends and former team players on social media during the Pro Kabaddi seasons.
When asked if he spoke to Pawan Sehrawat after he got injured in Pro Kabaddi, Randhir replied:
"Those are personal things. He is my student. I had recently blocked him. See, Bengal's coach has also played under me. During the league, I block the likes of Sanjeev (Baliyan, coach of Jaipur Pink Panthers) and everyone else."
"But I unblocked Pawan and asked him about his health. Then we had a personal chat," he added.
#2 Dabang Delhi KC coach's unique analogy about captaincy
Dabang Delhi KC head coach Krishan Kumar Hooda was asked about the transition in his team after Naveen Kumar took over the captaincy from Joginder Narwal. The head coach hilariously replied:
"So captaincy hai, pehle saas hai, phir bahu aati hai. Phir woh bahu bhi saas ban jaati hai. Parivaar me bhi aisa hi hota hai. Kabhi saas bhi bahu thi (laughs). (Captaincy is similar to family in a way. Even a mother-in-law was once a daughter-in-law.)."
#3 Fazel Atrachali's press conference with children
On the occasion of Children's Day, the Pro Kabaddi League organized a special press conference. Puneri Paltan stars Fazel Atrachali, Aslam Inamdar and Mohit Goyat attended the event and answered questions from the young kids. One of the questions asked was what would they have become if they did not play kabaddi professionally.
Aslam Inamdar said that he would have become a farmer, while Mohit Goyat said he would either try in the army or work as a farmer. Puneri Paltan skipper Fazel Atrachali revealed that he wanted to become a fireman, but he never passed the exams:
"I wanted to be a fireman. Two times, I went for the exam but they didn't accept me. It was before Pro Kabaddi, I tried to be a fireman because I liked that job, but there were a lot of exams, and they didn't accept me."
One can only wonder what would have happened had the most successful defender in PKL history indeed passed those exams in Iran back then.
