Rahul Chaudhari is an Indian professional kabaddi player who started out as a defender and gradually went on to become a full-fledged raider. He is also the main raider for his Pro Kabaddi League team Tamil Thalaivas and is the first player and raider to score more than 700 points in PKL.
Background
Rahul Chaudhari was born on 16 June, 1993 in the Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh. His elder brother used to play kabaddi for his village team as a raider and that’s how Rahul got introduced to the sport around the year 2007.
With no initial family support, he subsequently, took part in a trial held in his village from Sports Authority of India (SAI), Gandhinagar and was sent to Gujarat for a training camp. It was there at the camp that he began developing his skills making him the player he is today.
Soon after that, he got an offer from the Army to play for them. But he felt it was too early and needed more practice, therefore, he did not join them and later went on to play for Air India.
Debut
Chaudhari has stuck with the Telugu Titans since his debut and is consistently among the top raiders of VIVO Pro Kabaddi right from the league's inception. He is considered among the most fleet-footed raiders in the game and is one of the few players who can single-handedly turn a game around with his quick and consistent raids.
Rise to Glory
In Season 1 of PKL, he picked up 161 points from 14 games and was placed second to U Mumba’s highly experienced Captain Cool Anup Kumar. The following season the raider went from strength to strength and finished as the second most successful raider once again behind Dabang Delhi K.C.’s Kashiling Adake.
Although his ability to outsmart the opposition defence and perform well in pressure situations won him a lot of praise, he still wasn’t able to earn the title of the most successful raider of the season. This changed in Pro Kabaddi Season 4 where at the top of his form, he scored 146 points from 16 games, 15 points clear of MVP Pardeep Narwal. That season also saw him become the first raider to cross 400 raid points in the league.
Prominent Achievements
Nicknamed as the ‘Raid Machine’, he brought the nation glory by leading the Indian team to an Asian Beach Games gold in 2014 followed by the Senior Nationals Kabaddi Championships gold for his state Uttar Pradesh in 2015. Rahul also represented India in the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup and was also a member of the Indian National Kabaddi team in the 2016 South Asian Games that won gold medals in both the events.
Rahul Chaudhari PKL Stats
