Pune: From aggressive raider to team’s most valuable asset—Deepak Hooda has played many roles in Kabaddi and now he will be seen as the captain of Puneri Paltan in Season 5.

“When I started I was an aggressive raider and I only wanted to play for India. If anyone catches me during my raid then I used to become aggressive and try to bring point back from the same player,” said Deepak Hooda in an exclusive interaction with Sakal Times.

“I had a stubborn attitude. But as I played more matches I started to understand the match situation and played accordingly. When I was with Telugu Titans I used to be a defender but my role changed after coming into Puneri Paltan squad.

Deepak was the second best raider in the Season-4 with 108 raid points where Puneri Paltan finished on No 3 position.

“In Season-4, I had more responsibility on my shoulders and I enjoyed it completely. There were many times where I did most of the raiding as it was required by my team. I always told myself that you have to bring points for your team in every situation.”

“There is a huge difference between playing as a player and playing as captain. When you are captain you need to take care of all your players. If any player is going through lean patch then as a captain I need to push him up and motivate him instead of scolding.”

“Best part of my team is most of the players have spent some of their years together in the past - Me, Dharamaraj Cheralathan, Sandeep Narwal, Rajesh Mondal, Girish Earnak were all together in the Indian camp,” added Deepak.