Anup Kumar Anup is an Indian former professional

Kabaddi Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In this game, a raider enters the opposing half of the court to touch defenders and attempt to return within 30 ...

player and Kabaddi Coach of PKL Team Patna Pirates . He was a member of the India national kabaddi team that won Asian gold medals in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, one

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

gold medal in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup. He was the captain of the Indian National Kabaddi Team. He spent five years with

U Mumba U Mumba is a professional kabaddi team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. The franchise is currently led by Sunil Kumar, and coached by Anil Chaprana and Gholamreza Mazandarani. The team is owned by Unilazer V ...

and later moved to

Jaipur Pink Panthers Jaipur Pink Panthers (JPP) is a professional Kabaddi team from Jaipur, competing in the Pro Kabaddi League. The team is currently led by Arjun Deshwal. The team is owned by Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan. Jaipur Pink Panthers play their home ...

. In 2012, the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

conferred the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

on him for his achievements in the sport. He is employed as a

Deputy Commissioner of Police A deputy commissioner is a police, income tax or administrative official in many countries. The rank is commonplace in police forces of Commonwealth countries, usually ranking below the Commissioner. Australia In all Australian police forces, dep ...

in his native State of

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

. On 19 December 2018, he announced his retirement from kabbadi.

Early life

Kumar, born and brought up in Palra, Gurgaon, Haryana, is the son of Ransingh Yadav, and Ballo Devi. He started playing

as a pastime during his schooldays. In April 2005, he joined CRPF as a constable. He represented India for the first time at the

2006 South Asian Games The 2006 South Asian Games (also known as the 10th South Asian Games) were held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 18 August to 28 August 2006, in the Sugathadasa Stadium with more than 2000 sportspersons competing in the record 20 disciplines of Sports. ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Pro Kabaddi League

U Mumba

2014

He was captain of the

team in the 2014

Pro Kabaddi League The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) is an Indian professional Kabaddi league for men. It premiered in 2014 and airs on Star Sports. It is the most popular kabaddi league in the world and the third most watched sports league in India after the India ...

. He won the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

award in the first season of the league, leading his team to the finals where they lost to

. He scored 155 raid points in 16 matches, to become one of the most successful raider of Pro Kabaddi.

2015

He led U Mumba to their maiden Pro Kabaddi title in 2015 in which he finished the season with 74 raid points. They defeated

Bengaluru Bulls Bengaluru Bulls (BGB) is a professional kabaddi team based in Bengaluru that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. The team were champions in Season 6 and are led by Pardeep Narwal and coached by BC Ramesh. The team is owned by Ashwin Mallaya Ulla ...

in the final.

2016

U Mumba reached the final where they lost against

Patna Pirates Patna Pirates (PTP) is a professional kabaddi team based in Patna, Bihar, that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. The team is led by Ankit Jaglan and coached by Anup Kumar (kabaddi). Their home ground is the Patliputra Sports Complex. The Pirate ...

by a margin of only 2 points. This was the third time when they played the final. A player in his team, Rishank Devadiga, got the award of the most valuable player. He was retained by

team. After 3 seasons, the squad of U Mumba was mostly changed but once again with the help of Rakesh Kumar they managed to finish fifth in the season. This was the first season where U Mumba failed to reach the finals.

2017

Anup Kumar was retained by Mumba for the fifth consecutive season. In season 5, he became the first player in Pro Kabaddi to complete 400 raid points.

Jaipur Pink Panthers

2018–19

For the sixth season, Anup Kumar was released by his former franchise U Mumba. In the auctions,

Abhishek Bachchan Abhishek Bachchan (; born 5 February 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Hindi films. Part of the Bachchan family, he is the son of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan. From 2012 to 2016, Bachchan appeared in ...

owned franchise

brought him in the auction for 30 Lakhs INR.

Retirement

On 19 December 2018, he announced his retirement from kabaddi after completing 15 years in the sport. .

International career

He made his International debut in

. Anup Kumar won gold medals at the

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), were a regional multi-sport event held from November 12 to 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (although several events commenced ear ...

and the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games (), officially known as the 17th Asian Games () and also known as Incheon 2014 (), were a pan-Asian multi-sport event held from 19 September to 4 October 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. On 17 April 2007, Incheon was awarded ...

in kabaddi. He won a gold medal in kabaddi at the

2016 South Asian Games The 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event which took place from 5 February to 16 February 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong, India. A total of 2,672 athletes competed in 226 events over 22 sports ...

. He captained the Indian national Kabaddi team and won their record third Kabaddi World Cup in 2016.

Style of play

His main skills are bonus, hand touch and toe touch. Due to his extraordinary skills in earning bonus points, he is famously known as ''Bonus ka Badshah''. He has another nickname 'Captain Cool' due to his brilliant captaincy and sportsmanship. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest captains in Indian Kabaddi history. Though there was a decline in his performance at the final stages (during his last matches), he continued to influence by his captainship qualities.

Honours and achievements

Club

U Mumba

: ** 2015 Pro Kabaddi League Champions with

as a captain. ** 2014 Pro Kabaddi League- Raider of the season with 153 raid points from 16 matches

International

India

* Kabaddi World Cup:

* Asian Games Gold Medal:

* South Asian Games Gold Medal:

Individual

Awards

* Pro Kabaddi League 2014: Most Valuable Player *

: 2012

References

External links

Official Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Anup Indian male kabaddi players 1983 births Living people People from Gurgaon district Kabaddi players from Haryana Pro Kabaddi League players Recipients of the Arjuna Award Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games kabaddi players for India Asian Games gold medalists in kabaddi Kabaddi players at the 2010 Asian Games Kabaddi players at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games South Asian Games gold medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in kabaddi