Pro Kabaddi: Meet Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh, the new showman in town

Remember Amitabh Bachchan’s lines from the 2000 film  Mohabbatein?  Parampara, prathishta, anushaasan – he declared, in that baritone of his. It translates to tradition, honour and obedience. The Indian way of kabaddi often feels modelled on these ideals. You may be the biggest star in the world but coach sahib is still  numero uno in the room. It is a culture built on rules, age-old playing styles and respect bordering on blind obedience.

Over the years, a young raider from Iran has emerged as a sort of antithesis of all this. He’s not the humble, ‘do-your-job-and-return’ player. He relishes the opportunity to put on a show and he now has two Pro Kabaddi League titles to show for it.

He is Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh.

First impression

The now 24-year-old took PKL by storm when he was signed by Patna Pirates for Rs. 30 lakh in 2021. He was quick, agile, ready to invite raiders to challenge him and when the raider least expected it, he would have their ankles tightly in his grip. He finished with 89 tackle points, the most by a defender that season. With a solid raiding department and this maverick from Iran making a whole part of the mat untouchable, Patna barged into the final with authority only to tumble over the hurdle called Dabang Delhi.

His next season with Patna would be his last with the outfit. He finished with 84 points, missing the orange sleeve – given to the top defender – by just five tackle points. A new season brought with it a different hairstyle – the top bun made way for a suave bleached top. Shadloui was a lone wolf, a bright spot in a dismal season that saw the side finish 10th in the standings.

The auction ahead of season 10 was crucial for Shadloui. He would learn on the flight back from the Hangzhou Asian Games that he was the most expensive foreign player of all time with a massive price tag of Rs. 2.31 crore paid by Puneri Paltan. Shadloui found himself amidst players of his own age bracket and quickly settled in.

Big comparisons

By this time, Shadloui’s legend had grown. His aggression and ruthlessness evoked fear and adoration in equal measure but what it brought most was comparisons with his compatriot – legendary defender Fazel Atrachali.

Fazel, a winner of the league in season two with U Mumba, tops the all-time tackle points tally. He was the most successful captain in the league’s history until recently (with Sunil Kumar overtaking him this season). Even internationally, he has been a big sharp thorn eating into the flesh of the Indians each time they faced Iran on the kabaddi mat. Shadloui emerged as his successor or, dare we say, replacement.

Fazel had taken Puneri Paltan to the final in season nine, but an injury-hit team eventually succumbed to the raiding superiority of Jaipur Pink Panthers. A season later, Shadloui had the best opportunity to make gains in the comparison contest with Fazel when he helped Pune make the final with Haryana Steelers standing in the way of the trophy. A close 28-25 win went their way and Shadloui’s Paltan emerged champion. The Iranian topped the tackles tally with 99 points this time.

You’d expect this to be a hit formula and for Shadloui to be retained by Pune for the next season, but he wasn’t. Back in the auction, he unsurprisingly went for big money yet again with the Steelers paying Rs. 2.07 crore for his services.

“If you want the best defender in the league, you have to pay,” Shadloui later told this publication sheepishly.

However, this acquisition was in the works well before the teams sat down for the auction exercise. After the season 10 final, Haryana coach Manpreet Singh and Shadloui spoke personally for the first time.

“We spoke for about 10-15 minutes,” Manpreet told  Sportstar on the sidelines of the recently concluded 11th chapter of PKL which Haryana won.

“He told me he was happy to see our team come to the final with a young crop of players and we exchanged pleasantries. At that time itself, I wondered how it would be to have him on our side.

“When we had the off-season camp in Bellary, Shadloui came over there for 10-15 days. It was a short visit as he left abruptly to handle something urgent at home, but that stint was very positive and I knew I wanted him in the setup,” he added.

True allrounder

By the time Shadloui took to the mat in his fourth season of the PKL, he was already a bonafide superstar. He had sufficiently annoyed India on the international stage at the Asian Kabaddi Championships in Busan and the Asian Games in China (both in 2023) to be feared by players. But those flamboyant performances also earned him a huge following.

The crew cut from his days with Pune was gone and he was back to sporting his thick black curls, sometimes left open, or tied up with scarves matching Haryana’s silks. He looked the part of a mercenary. Men and women alike thronged kabaddi matches with big cutouts of his face and he was happy to oblige them with photos, autographs or sometimes even a mid-match thumbs up or a wink.

Each season, Shadloui worked on bettering his skills on offer. His last run at Patna saw him begging coaching staff to be sent to raid, but they wouldn’t relent. His role was fixed in the defence. Sometimes, he went anyway, earning stern glares from coach Ravi Shetty in the process. Even BC Ramesh, the head coach at Pune during his time there, was not too keen on Shadloui the raider. By this time, the man was just short of holding a banner and screaming from the rooftops about his abilities in that department.

The cry that went unheard everywhere else found a keen ear in Manpreet at the Steelers. Shadloui eventually turned a full all-rounder with the Men in Blue as he managed not only to top defender standings yet again with 82 points, but he also scored 57 raid points making him only the second player after Manjeet Chhillar to manage at least 50 points in offence and defence in a single season.

“Many people like to call themselves all-rounders, but I’ve shown them what a true all-rounder is,” Shadloui would say on the sidelines of another stellar campaign.

Something different

“This season I want to show a different performance from Shadloui,” the Iranian told  Sportstar ahead of the playoffs. “I have been raiding more and even in training I am focusing more on it. Because of that, my defence has actually faltered a little. I want to fix it and finish with the orange sleeve,” he said, the defender in him always wanting to stay on top. “It’s a bit hard but no problem. If the team gets a good performance, I will be happy.”

That’s not entirely true, and Shadloui would be the first to admit. He is ever the team man, happy to move positions across the mat and do everything to work for a win, but he is not one to let his individual self melt away in the process. In describing his ambitions, he often slips into referring to himself in the third person.

“I want Shadloui to be a big phenomenon. I want to be judged as the best defender at least five to six times. I want to become a symbol in the PKL and make a big career,” he said.

The last two final appearances were underwhelming from an individual point of view. Matching his fierce style of play was his old franchise Patna Pirates, with an audacious raiding duo leading the pack – Devank Dalal and Ayan Lochab. Shadloui though showed no respect to the nearly 400 raid points between the young pair and targeted them throughout the first half. The Haryana defence did not allow Patna’s strength any space to show itself. With seven points to his name on the night, and a mature performance that reflected his experience more than his raw fire, Shadloui clinched his second consecutive PKL crown and helped Haryana to its first.

For his exploits and impact in turning games on its head, he was adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the season.

Until next time

For all his over-the-top showmanship and provocation on the kabaddi mat, his life back home is the polar opposite. People know him there, but don’t profess their love for him the way India does. He runs a construction business in Urmia which is where a large part of his PKL windfall has been channelled. His native city doesn’t have a kabaddi mat or a dedicated arena for him to train so once a month, he makes his way to the neighbouring area of Naqadeh in the West Azerbaijan province where mat infrastructure is available.

His kabaddi addiction isn’t even passed on, he is the first in his family to play the sport. He belongs to a region known for the volleyball players it produces as opposed to most of his compatriots who come from regions like Golestan which produces athletes who dive into contact sports.

When he isn’t training, you’ll catch him sharing sufi-themed poetry on his Instagram account. He loves indulging in romantic literature from time to time too… a big softy and a stark contrast to the brash arrogance he has become synonymous with in the PKL.

“I first played kabaddi 12 years ago and in my first mat session, I claimed four to five tackle points. The bug bit me then.

“Kabaddi is now in my blood. It’s become a part of me now. When I play this sport, my soul is happy. I am happy here and this is where I’ll be. There’s more coming. Just wait and watch.”