New Delhi, Oct 25: Ajay Thakur is called the 'rock star' of Indian Kabaddi for his brilliant raiding capacity during the recently concluded Kabaddi World Cup 2016. India were trailing behind Iran in the final till the end of the first half.
Champions again: India win Kabaddi World Cup 2016
Thakur showed his magic in the last 15 minutes of the game when he demolished Iran's solid defense and guided India to the desired victory with his inimitable style of raiding.
After having earned highest 64 points in the World Cup, Thakur is being hailed the best raider in the world.
While speaking over phone from his residence in Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh, the 30-year-old raider seemed rueful.
Thakur lamented, “I also expected that all the players in our World Cup winning squad will be receiving incentives from other quarters of the society as PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar have received. But with already four days past I have not yet received any phone call or any invitations for any of our kabaddi players. We also have achieved something which cannot be denied."
Thakur, who is planning to get married next year, said in spite of being gold medal winners in the Incheon Asian Games in 2014, Indian Kabaddi team received just Rs 10 lakh from the central government and nothing else.
He added, "Actually the whole team was given Rs 10 lakh which meant each of us in the squad received approximately Rs 70 thousand!"
Thakur also wants to appeal to the Union Sports Ministry to allocate a couple of artificial mats so that their training becomes of international standard.
"When we participate in the World Cup we play on artificial mat. Pro-kabaddi league is played on artificial mats. But when we train in the national camp, we have shortage of quality artificial mats. The price of one artificial mat is around Rs 6 lakh. So, I will be happy if the Union Sports Ministry provides a couple of artificial mats for our training," he added.
OneIndia News