Kabaddi has come from the soil and this game is ruled by the Pioneers who not only inspired their supporters but also their family members to indulge themselves in this sport. Hence we have seen many great names who came from the famous Kabaddi families and carried forward the legacy of the previous generations. And it is still going on as we may have seen a large number of PKL players coming from the Kabaddi clans like Narwhal, Chhillar, Malik, Dahiya, Goyat etc.
Irrespective of the sport, it’s always an exciting scenery when we witness two players coming from one family, either teaming up or battling out each other on the same field. When an elder sibling decides to follow his passion in Kabaddi, the other ones are also inspired to take up this sport professionally. Interestingly, this has been the common backstory of many Pro Kabaddi stars when they start to elaborate on how they fall in love with this game.
As the Parimatch News brings you the list of Top 5 Sibling pairs who graced the prestigious stage of Pro Kabaddi League.
5. Ram Kumar Sah and Shyam Kumar Sah
The sibling pair hailing from Bengal was one of the main attractions of Pro Kabaddi League’s inaugural edition, back in 2014. They were the first and only twin brothers who have ever been part of the league. Despite their facial identical similarities, it was not an issue for the viewers to recognise them as they were representing two different franchises that season.
Ram Kumar Sah who is five minutes elder among two was also introduced to Kabaddi first by a local club and participated in major competitions around West Bengal in his teenage days. The Bengali raider was part of Patna Pirates for two seasons (2014 & 2016) but found it hard to make it to the Starting Seven as the Green Army’s artillery was already stacked with the likes of Rakesh Kumar, Ravi Dalal, Sandeep Narwal and Gurvinder Singh. During the Mega Auction of Season 4, Ram was purchased by Dabang Delhi for 8 Lakhs but could make only a single appearance with the Capital-based franchise.
Unlike his elder twin-brother, Shyam was able to make his mark in the initial seasons but unfortunately couldn’t excel further. The sturdy all-rounder spent three seasons with his home side where he fetched 17 raid points and 27 tackle points from 41 appearances for Bengal Warriors. Apart from Pro Kabaddi League, Shyam represents the South Eastern side in the Railways circuit while Ram is still part of the Kerala Police unit.
4. Sunil Kumar Malik and Sumit Malik
Malik family is in-charge of Gujarat’s defensive matters since the franchise’s inception
Sunil Kumar Malik is one of the biggest names among the defenders in the Kabaddi World today due to his destructive tackle skills and immense consistency. While his younger brother Sumit Malik is a budding youngster who aspires to don the left corner position in Indian colours one day. The Malik Brothers also have a cousin Parvesh Bhainswal (Malik) who is the cover partner of Sunil at Railways, Gujarat Giants and the Indian National side.
Sumit broke into the PKL stage with Gujarat Giants in the seventh edition under the guidance of elder brothers Sunil and Parvesh. The Giants retained him for Season 8 as a backup option for Girish Ernak but the youngster could make only five appearances before ruling out the rest of the season due to an injury. Sunil played a huge role in shaping Sumit’s career as the young defender also considers him as a Godfather in this game.
Sunil made his debut with Patna Pirates in the PKL winning campaign in Season 4 but earned his breakthrough with the newly formed Gujarat Giants with whom he went on to play finals in Season 5 and Six as well. Ever since he has taken the red jersey of the Ahmedabad-based franchise, he has been an unstoppable force and became the first-choice option for the right corner position of the National Team. The 25-year-old fierce defender is leading the Gujarat forces for the last two editions and plays the key role of Chief Conveyor who instils gaffer Manpreet Singh’s ideology in players.
3. Siddharth Desai and Suraj Desai
The Desai pair is known as ‘The Baahubali Brothers’ in the local circuit of Maharashtra Kabaddi which they have been ruling for years. Siddharth was not much interested in the sport earlier but the influence of Senior Desai finally turned him to his ultimate destination. The Kolhapuri brothers soon moved to Pune where they plied their trade for Satej Kabaddi Club and earned a reputation in the Kabaddi capital of Maharashtra.
When Siddharth moved out of U Mumba for a record-breaking auction price, his elder brother also joined him at Telugu Titans. On his PKL debut, he scored a whopping total of 18 raid points without getting out even once and it still stands as the best debut in the history of this league. Despite getting a glorious start to his PKL journey, the Army professional couldn’t carry it further due to fitness concerns.
Siddharth was part of the Senior National Championship winning Maharashtra side but got his breakthrough with U Mumba in Season 6 where he was also adjudged with the Emerging Player of the Season award. After scoring 220 raid points in his maiden campaign with Telugu Titans, the Hyderabad-based franchise bought him back through an FBM card for 1.3 crores. Siddharth scored 34 raid points in the first three fixtures of Season 8 but had undergone surgery which kept him out the rest of the season.
2. Dharmaraj Cheralathan and D Gopu
The Dharmaraj Brothers hailing from Tirunelveli of Tamil Nadu state are well-known figures in the Indian Kabaddi circuit for a long time. Gopu plays in the right-corner position while Cheralathan is versatile enough to don any role in the defensive line but prefers to stay at the left-corner position. In the Third edition, both of them were part of the Southern franchise Telugu Titans and played a lot of matches together.
The legendary Dharmaraj Cheralathan popularly known as ‘Anna’ is the oldest player ever at the age of 47 to be part of the World’s best Kabaddi league. After making his India debut in 1999, he wore the national colours till the 2016 World Cup triumph and also captained Patna Pirates in the PKL-winning season in the same year. Anna who joined Indian Railways as a South Central division employee is still part of the Railways first team and recently won multiple Senior National Championships with them.
The younger Dharmaraj sibling did not have a glorious career like his elder brother but still has a reputation in the national circuit after trouncing the raiders during his peak years. Gopu made his PKL debut with Puneri Paltan and then switched to Telugu Titans for a couple of seasons before moving to his home side Tamil Thalaivas in Season Six. He recently made multiple appearances in the All India Inter Railway Tournament with the Integral Coach Factory side where he is employed.
1. Nitin Madane and Krushna Madane
Both siblings are aiming to make a grand comeback in the PKL
Our top features in the countdown are the Madane brothers from the land of Maharashtra who had an amazing PKL journey and is currently playing in the state circuit. Elder sibling Nitin was one of those players who became household names among the fans when the Pro Kabaddi League commenced. Krushna had a breakthrough campaign in the PKL Season Seven along with his Maharashtrian companions Desai brothers and finally made his mark in his third season.
Nitin was the top raid point scorer of Bengal Warriors in the inaugural PKL edition and also finished among the Top 10 raiders of that season with 101 raid points. After missing the following two seasons due to injury, he made a comeback in the PKL but failed to replicate the previous performance and got sidelined from the league ever since then. He played an instrumental role in winning the National Championship for Maharashtra after 11 years and was also part of the gold medal-winning Indian team at the Incheon Asian Games 2014.
Like his brother, Krushna Madane also made his PKL debut with the Bengal Warriors franchise, but could only play a single game for them in Season 3. Then the left-corner defender was picked by Telugu Titans where he spent 2 seasons as a backup of first-choice Vishal Bharadwaj. He is part of Mumbai’s professional Kabaddi club, Income Tax Department along with other PKL stars like Nilesh Salunke, Tushar Patil and Balasaheb Jadhav where he has clinched many National level tournaments.