Meraj Sheykh Biography

Meraj Sheykh is an Iranian professional Kabaddi player born on 26th May 1968. He currently dons the jersey for Dabang Delhi KC and is one of the important players for the team. Meraj hails from the Kabaddi rich town of Sistan in Iran and had an interest in kabaddi from his childhood days. He started playing at the age of 12. Apart from Kabaddi, he was a professional wrestler for 10 years. He debuted in the second season of Pro Kabaddi League with Telugu Titans.

Meraj Sheykh Pro Kabaddi Career

Meraj started his Pro Kabaddi League career with Telugu Titans and was the first foreign captain in the league to captain a side when he was handed the captaincy tag in Season 2. Sheykh is an all-rounder and his raiding and defending skills make him one of the most prominent all-rounders around. Sheykh has captained the Iran national team in many international events. His temperament and pressure handling capability make him a force to reckon for. He represented Telugu Titans in Season 2 and 3. He was bought by Dabang Delhi in season 4 and was retained for the subsequent seasons. His experience as a professional wrestler helps in Kabaddi due to the agility that he has developed during his wrestling days.

Meraj scored 104 points in season 4 of Pro Kabaddi League making him the most successful all-rounder of the season and completely justifying his retention in the side. He has played 91 matches in Pro Kabaddi League in which he was able to gather 379 points with average raid points amounting to 3.57 points per match. He even has a respectable average tackle per match of 0.52 and the highest average being 1.28 in season 3. Sheykh’s highest average raid point per match of 4.94 in any season was recorded in season 6 of Pro Kabaddi League.

Meraj’s signature move, Scorpion Kick is one of the most spectacular moves which equally require high reflexes and flexibility. In the move Sheykh, while reaching the mid-line snaps his back knee up to touch a defender on the way back. The move is named scorpion kick because the move is similar to the sting of a scorpion. One of the most entertaining players, he has given Pro Kabaddi fans multiple moments to cheer about with his quirky raids, unusual style of defending or escaping a touch at the corners, lying down on the mat, and frog jumps during raids.

Meraj Sheykh International Career

Meraj is nicknamed as ‘Cheetah’ or sometimes ‘Magical Meraj’. Apart from being a successful captain in Pro Kabaddi League Meraj has captained the national Kabaddi team of Iran which lost to India in the final of the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup, Ahmedabad. The final was a neck to neck contest in which the result favored the Indian team. Meraj was unarguably the best player in the match posing a threat to India’s hopes for retaining the title. He has also captained Iran in the 2018 Dubai Kabaddi Masters in which Iran ended as runners up.