Naveen Raja Jacob: "I would like to eventually become the coach of the Indian volleyball team"

Star volleyball player Naveen Raja Jacob has his plans clearly chalked out. The versatile player is a vital cog in the Indian volleyball team and is currently a part of Chennai Blitz in the ongoing Prime Volleyball league.

Chennai Blitz won their first match in the Prime Volleyball League after four consecutive losses when they got the better of Calicut Heroes. Naveen Raja Jacob, combining well with G.S. Akhin, produced a good defensive performance to help Chennai Blitz open their account.

Naveen Raja Jacob made his India debut in 2007 and has not looked back since then. In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, the Chennai-based player divulged details on his future plans.

"After my playing career, I want to get into coaching. That way I would get a chance to help budding players with whatever I have learnt in my career. I would like to eventually become the coach of the Indian volleyball team," Naveen Raja Jacob revealed.

Read: "Decision-making ability during crunch situations will help us win"- Kochi Blue Spikers Head Coach MH Kumara

Naveen Raja Jacob credits PVL for improvements

Naveen Raja Jacob credited the advent of the league to lifting volleyball in India. The league offers budding players a chance to rub shoulders with the best in business, including foreign players.

Many upcoming players have credited the league for improving finer points in their game and even for someone as experienced as Naveen, the Prime Volleyball League did a lot of fine-tuning to his game.

"The foreign players always guide us a lot on how to play in such a professional setup. I have learned a lot on how they manage to play in crunch situations, how they strategize, how they practice, their game plans and more," he said.

Naveen opined that the Prime Volleyball League will go a long way in developing the sport in the country.

"This league will benefit volleyball in India. The sport will become popular. There are a lot of volleyball players in the hinterlands and this league gives them an opportunity, a platform, to showcase their skills," he said.

When and where to watch PVL?

The Prime Volleyball League will be shown live on the Sony Sports network. SONY TEN 1 (English), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi), SONY TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) and SONY TEN 2 (Malayalam) channels will have a live telecast of all the matches.

The Prime Volleyball League runs from February 5 to February 27.