Is Narsingh Yadav India's best bet for an Olympic gold?

Cows, dustbins, people looking at you as if they have never seen a man with a camera, a temple surrounded by youngsters on their bikes sipping early evening tea and endless alleyways which criss-cross into a maze so narrow that it leaves you breathless — and amidst all this, a small two-room house laden with countless medals, a couple of Hanuman gadaas and photographs of one of India’s most promising athletes.

You may not recognise him if he walks past you in Mumbai, but in Varanasi, people travel 25 kilometres to catch a glimpse of their hero – Narsingh Yadav. If you don’t know the name, then you better learn it.

The 23-year-old wrestling sensation has won almost everything on his way to becoming one of India’s hottest prospects to win an individual medal at the London Olympics.

He is also the first wrestler from Maharashtra to qualify for the Olympics in the last 40 years.

Always touted by his coaches as one who would make it big, Narsingh paid off their faith by winning the Asian Championships in New Delhi, bagging gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and now being nominated for the Arjuna Award. At the rate he is going at, the 74-kg-freestyle wrestler shoulders the hopes of his country.

The son of a milk distributor in Jogeshwari, Narsingh came to Mumbai at a young age before being accepted at the Sports Authority of India hostel. Here, he teamed up with his coaches Jagmal Singh and Vinod Kumar, who have looked after him ever since; with the latter also travelling to London.

Firstpost spoke to Vinod and he acknowledges that going by the wrestler’s current record, he is certainly a contender for a medal: “He has beaten wrestlers from all over the world, his winning record is great and that tells me that he has a good chance of bagging a medal.”

What made Narsingh’s comeback script even more dramatic is the fact that his career was almost over after an injury left him with torn anterior cruciate ligaments in his right knee. He had to spend an year out in the cold, and has never looked back since his return to mainstream wrestling.

We spoke to the man himself: “It was the turning point in my career. Sitting so many months out with torn ligaments is not easy, but support from my coaches and family members helped me make a return.”

His dedication to the sport is immense and he has started eating non-vegetarian food apart from his preferred health combo of doodh and badam. 

While Sushil Kumar may watch saas-bahu serials during his workout, Narsingh finds his comfort zone in listening to old songs while working out and offering pooja before he takes to the ring.

When one talks about wrestling, the WWE comes to mind and Narsingh quickly quips who his favourite wrestler is: “The Rock.”

But the most important question is how he feels about his chances at the Olympics. The wrestler has had his lucky moments so far—like the time when he qualified for the Commonwealth Games as a last-minute replacement. And he remains modest in his assessment of what he faces in London: “Kismat ki baat hai,” he says, which means that it all depends on destiny.

His elder brother, Vinod Yadav, is best placed to give us an insight into young Narsingh’s psyche—not only because he has seen his rise, but because he probably is the one who has fought with him the most.

“There was a time I used to win, but now obviously Narsingh wins against me,” he says with a chuckle.

His fighting style is very cool, but with every win, Narsingh has started taking the odd risk and likes to be in control of his duels.

“Narsingh is a very calm, composed person. He has always done things according to the way he wanted to, but at the same time he is very modest and approachable,” said Vinod Yadav who was also a national level wrestler.

“This qualification means a lot to us as a family. My father was also a wrestler and so was I, and it is as if Narsingh is living our dream.”

Sure he is, but for Narsingh… the dream might have just started.