M Sudhakar, 21, took a vow in 2019 to not watch the Pro Kabaddi League [PKL] if he was not playing in it. Cut to 2023, he was in the stadium for a PKL game for the first time in four years. This time he was not in the audience, he was on the mat for PKL's most successful team, Patna Pirates.
Sudhakar hails from the kabaddi-loving village of Palayanallur near Trichy in Tamil Nadu -- his father, four elder brothers, cousins all played the sport in Palayanallur. It was only obvious that he took to the sport as a child. But he wasn't allowed to travel for tournaments since he was the youngest boy in the house. That was until a day in 11th standard that he recalls as a "life-changing one."
"There was a game in a neighbouring village and all the senior players left the night before. Two members of the team were going in the morning to give them their ID cards and asked me to tag along. I happily went and my elder brother, Sangeeth, scolded me for coming. But as luck would have it, one of their players did not make the weight limit and I was asked to join. I scored four points and won the game. That was the day that changed it all," he tells ESPN.
That sparked the light in his kabaddi career and Sudhakar took off. He would often train by himself in the muddy fields early in the morning to perfect his skills, and it paid off at the 2022 winter edition of the Yuva Kabaddi Series. It's a platform that works as a feeder system for the PKL and Sudhakar was the season's best raider with 320 raid points. That saw PKL clubs flood his phone and it was the three-time champions Patna Pirates who won his signature.
Life in the PKL has been a fun ride for Sudhakar -- it's the first time he has boarded so many flights, visited so many cities and shared the training mat with India's best kabaddi players such as Sachin Tanwar.
But there's more to it: playing in the PKL is also a means to earn his family pride. His father, Maruthamuthu, works as a daily wage labourer and has been at the receiving end of taunts. He was told that his sons urupuda matanga [would amount to nothing] and that they would also follow suit in lifting sacks.
"I used to feel annoyed, ennaku apadiye uruthum [I would be hurting]. He once carried sacks to my school when I was in 8th standard and it really hurt me. I felt bad looking at how much he used to struggle. He used to lift sacks that weighed 90kgs sacks despite one of his hands being partially paralyzed."
His father makes around Rs 800 a day. Sudhakar current contract is worth Rs 8 lakh for the season.
But since his arrival in the PKL, the narrative around the village has changed. People speak proudly of him and congratulate his father for raising a sportsperson. "Now they all say that it's so nice to see me play at such a big level. The other day my mother called and said "nalla peru vaangi kuduthute [you've earned us a good name]. They are all very happy. My father does not show it, but my mother told me he comes home and excitedly tells her about how people speak about me nowadays."
Sudhakar is at peace seeing his family happy. But on the mat, he still has a point to prove.
"I have not shown all my skills yet. I can do a lot more -- I can grab a bonus point and get touch while being airborne on the way back. I have a really good jump. I can multi-point raids. As I get to play more matches, I will show everyone what I am capable of."
Sudhakar has played in 11 of Patna Pirates' 12 matches this season and has 67 points to his name. His friends back in Palayanallur already refer to him as a 'PKL star'. He is, after all, the first in their village to play at such a top level. But Sudhakar wants a lot more -- to become like his idols: Pardeep Narwal and Ajay Thakur.