'I had no idea,' says Ajay Thakur about Arjuna nomination
The Tamil Thalaivas skipper had a forgettable outing against his former team, Bengaluru Bulls. However, the Arjuna award nomination is sure to make up for the heartbreak, news the press had to give him first.
Published : Aug 17, 2019 22:02 IST
The home leg for Tamil Thalaivas skipper Ajay Thakur might not havestarted as he would have wanted it to at the Jawaharlal NehruStadium in Chennai, after his side went down to defending championBengaluru Bulls 32-21, but such has been the trend in this year’sPro Kabaddi League (PKL), with the home team emerging victoriousonly thrice until now.
However, Saturday has not been a bad dayafter all for the 33-year-old Indian kabaddi captain, having madethe final recommendations in a massive 19-member list for Arjunaawards earlier in the evening.
Completely oblivious to the news, Thakur was visiblystunned when the news was broken to him, by the journalists at the post-match press conference no less.
“Really? I had absolutelyno idea at all,” was all he could manage to lip in the beginning. Even Thalaivas coach E. Bhaskaran was not in the know. He joked, “Maybe if he would have known it before the match, it would havehelped.”
Still a little taken aback by the news, Thakur said, “I was checking my phone since morning andcontinued till around 4 pm to know whether the names wereannounced but there was nothing regarding it. You are the ones tolet me know about it."
"Awards like these... Awards like the Arjunapush us sportspersons further because from the very beginning everyathlete has the dream to win it," he continued.
“I have been playing for Indiasince the last 15 years and kept yearning for it, thinking that oneday I would be able to bag it. I still cannot believe my ears. Iwill go check right now. Some news this is!”