Firstpost Exclusive: 'Wonderful to be part of history', Bengal Warriors' Maninder Singh ahead of PKL's 1000th match

The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) makes history on Monday. When Bengal Warriors take on Bengaluru Bulls at the Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium in Jaipur, the PKL, in its 10^th season, would mark 1000 games since the tournament’s inaugural season in 2014.And one man who had played the first-ever PKL match, and would take mat for the 1000th, is Maninder Singh, the captain of Bengal Warriors. Maninder began his PKL career with Jaipur Pink Panthers in 2014, and was part of the side when they won the title that year.Maninder said he felt “wonderful” to be part of PKL history. "It's a wonderful feeling to be part of history in PKL. It's a privilege to have played the first and to get the opportunity to play 1000th match of the PKL. It's no mean feat,” Maninder said in an exclusive interaction with Firstpost.After spending three years at Jaipur Pink Panthers, Maninder joined Bengal Warriors in 2017. The Warriors would endure semi-final exits in the fifth and sixth seasons of the PKL, before beating Dabang Delhi KC in the final of the seventh season to clinch their first title in 2019.Maninder recalled his title wins with the Pink Panthers and Bengal Warriors as his two most memorable moments of his career. "I won titles with Jaipur Pink Panthers in 2014 in the first season, and the seventh season in 2019 with Bengal Warriors. Those two title victories are the memorable moments for me,” added the 33-year-old.“Winning the first season with Rann Singh in the Jaipur Pink Panthers side was extra special. There’s no better feeling to that,” added the Punjab-born athlete.When asked about title expectations, Maninder said that there was hardly any pressure since all teams have just one motive — to win the title."There's no pressure when it comes to title expectations. Every teams competes to win. So there's no pressure whatsoever. The Jaipur Pink Panthers side that we had in the inaugural season was a strong outfit with confident players. As with Bengal Warriors, we had been trying for three-four seasons. And in the fifth and sixth seasons, we missed out on the final, but it was an overwhelming feeling when we won the seventh season to end a long wait,” continued the raider.Maninder, who has been leading Bengal Warriors since 2019, said he relishes the opportunity to captain the side.“I relish captaining the side. My responsibility as captain is to give the right advice to the players in the side, and it's a wonderful feeling for me when they listen to my advice and perform well,” added Maninder, who is only the second player after Pardeep Narwal to register 1000 raid points in the PKL.Bengal Warriors are currently seventh (33 points) in the 12-team standings with five wins, as many losses and two draws.