PKL 2018: Monu Goyat: Raiding into new territories

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Bengaluru, June 2: Monu Goyat became the most expensive buy during the Pro Kabaddi League 2018 auction when Haryana Steelers bought him for Rs 1.51 crore. In fact, he is the costliest kabaddi player ever and carries a bigger price tag than some other sporting personalities.

Indian captain Sunil Chhetri, the face of football in the country, was purchased by Indian Super League outfit Bengaluru FC for Rs 1.50 crore last year, while Olympic medal winning wrestler Sushil Kumar attracted Rs 55 lakh during the Pro Wrestling League bidding - lesser than Goyat's price.

In the Premier Badminton League, the costliest buy was HS Prannoy, who was picked by Ahmedabad Smash Masters for Rs 62 lakh - a shadow in front of Goyat's price.
In short, Goyat is the richest non-cricketing sportsperson in India right now. But Goyat, who works for Services, missed out on the first three editions of the PKL because his employer did not allow him to participate in a professional league.

"He was in tears because he loves playing kabbadi, and here when all the top players from across the world are playing and he was watching all the action on TV," Vijender Singh, Goyat's uncle and himself a former kabaddi players, told Mykhel.

However, he was allowed to play in the fourth season and Bengal Warriors picked him up. Despite Goyat, a raider, forming a good partnership with South Korean Jang Kun Lee, Warriors finished last in the PKL 4.

His breakthrough season came in PKL 5 for Patna Pirates, pairing well with Pardeep Narwal and bagging a combined 560 raiding points. It was not difficult to understand why Pirates cruised to their third successive PKL title.

"Despite that effort, I could not find a place in the Indian team for the Asian Kabaddi Championship held in Iran in November (2017). But that only helped me to sharpen my focus in the subsequent Kabaddi Nationals and the Federation Cup," said Goyat.

Under the 25-year-old Goyat, Services reached the title round of Kabaddi Nationals and won the Federation Cup and his consistency was rewarded in this year's PKL auction.

Though he had to move away from Pirates after they did not retain him, Goyat said he his new team - Haryana Steelers - is a good blend of experienced and young players and has the ability to win the tournament.

"In a tournament like PKL, you cannot think of playing for one team for long as it's their prerogative to retain or let go a certain player. I am happy to be with Steelers and they have veterans like Wazir Singh and Vikas Khandola along with some exciting youngsters. I am sure we can strike a good combination and offer challenge to others," said Goyat. '

Steelers' coach Rambir Singh Khokhar was happy to have Goyat in his side. "Monu is a strong player and has lot of energy. I had watched him playing for Warriors in PKL 4 and Pirates in PKL 5 and ensured that he gets picked up in the auction if Pirates are not retaining him. He is good technically too and is a thinking player," he said.