Bengal Warriors will be looking to get back to winning ways when they face Puneri Paltan at The Arena in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. The Warriors made a strong start to their campaign with back-to-back wins but tasted defeat the last time around and will be hoping to make amends against Pune in what will be the first inter zone clash of the week. Both teams share an identical record of two wins and a loss in their respective zones, and head into the match after suffering their first defeat in their last match. Bengal skipper Surjeet Singh spoke to prokabaddi.com in an exclusive interview and discussed captaincy as well as his most-prized memory in kabaddi, amongst other things. Here are some excerpts.

Tell us how you got into the sport of kabaddi.

I started playing as a kid. In my village, there are lot of players who are Asian game medallists. My father also was a kabaddi player and he wanted us to become kabaddi players. I started kabaddi when I was in fifth standard.

What’s your best memory to date as a player?

Last year the Kabaddi World Cup was played here in Ahmedabad and I was part of the Indian team and won the World Cup. So that’s a memorable moment for me.

In the first two games, you played really well but what happened in the last game?

There were some mistakes from the raiders and because of those mistakes we lost the match. In this league, every team will not win every match. We made some mistakes because of which they (Bengaluru Bulls) got the upper hand and we lost.

There are some new captains as well in this season, so do you agree that there is pressure on these new leaders?

It depends on the match situation. If the team is winning, then there is no pressure but if the team is losing then there is pressure because the captain has to answer why the team is losing and why the players aren’t performing.

Tell us about the balance between the young players and the senior players in your team.

One of the important points is that there is no senior or junior player system in the team. We all believe that all the 18 players are good and they can perform.

On a light note lastly, which are the three things you think your fans don’t know about you?

I like to spend time with my friends, I really love my family a lot and try to spend more time with them and I don’t like to watch movies.