The armyman is the first player from the region to make it to the Pro Kabaddi League and wants more to follow in his footsteps
Lucky Sharma was too tense to follow the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) auction this year. It makes sense considering that he was preparing to pioneer a new sport in his state. Sharma wasn’t sure how to respond when he was informed that Jaipur Pink Panthers had hired him for his base salary of Rs. 10 lakh. There was no precedence because he was the first person from Jammu & Kashmir to play in the nation’s top kabaddi league. The sport has a short history in that area.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for me,” Sharma stated. “I’d seen the PKL on TV—the stadiums, the lights, the crowd.”
He never imagined he’d get there. Not when, while watching cricket and kabaddi games in his village of Pouni Chak, about 10 kilometres from Jammu, he fell in love with the latter. Not with so many roadblocks in pursuing it in a state that did not have an indoor stadium for the sport until recently. Not after joining the Army and being forced to give up kabaddi for a year.
“I never imagined I’d be able to pursue kabaddi professionally.” We come from a background with little awareness. “I had no idea what level of competition there was in the sport or what the PKL was,” he admitted.
Sharma was in Class 6 when he was introduced to kabaddi on the grounds of his village’s local club. Cricket was the focus of most children and youth in J&K, but kabaddi piqued the boy’s interest. “I became immediately interested and went to play for 2-3 days straight.” “The coach there really worked hard on me,” he said.
Despite the financial limitations at home, his driver father never once prevented his son from pursuing what he loved. But as Sharma got older, he realised he had to help out the family (he has two sisters and a younger brother). In the training that followed his 2015 Army enlistment, kabaddi was the sport that was the furthest from his thoughts.
“I believed I would never play kabaddi once more. However, a few years later, I took part in an inter-army competition and was chosen for the army team,” he stated.
Sharma, a defender for Services in the nationals, competes there. He struggled with the state’s lack of competitive exposure. We have a league, although it’s not that common. From there, how will the talent be recognised?
The difficulties of learning kabaddi in J&K don’t stop there.
The absence of gyms, indoor stadiums, and mats is the main issue in our area. There is only one indoor stadium, and even that was only recently constructed. It was all about cricket up until that point.
“SAI (Sports Authority of India) does not have a hostel. Kids would concentrate more on sports, practise harder, and be aware of things like diet if there was one. The majority of them are from middle-class families and struggle to make ends meet. More players will reach this level once we have some form of infrastructure there.
Sharma wants to go back and smooth the way for others to follow after blazing a trail through unexplored territory. “I want to bid even higher at the following auction. I want to support the sport in my community by planning a legitimate competition and purchasing equipment for the club’s gym, the man stated.
Sharma is certain that his PKL success will give kabaddi in J&K a boost. It will provide a significant boost. Everybody has been enquiring as to when I will perform. They can’t wait to see me. They will become even more motivated by my presence on this platform and believe that “if he can achieve it, so can I.”
