Key Points

The 25-year-old suffered a meniscus tear that required surgery, forcing him to the sidelines.

"I took a long break because of the injury. I had already recovered, but I wanted to be mentally strong. In this game, you have to be mentally strong and positive. So, I took a long break and I prepared myself for that. Like, I have to do the same thing in PKL. People should see the same Aslam...I am waiting for season 12," Aslam told ANI.

Aslam's absence was felt deeply by Puneri Paltan in Season 11. The team, which he had captained to the PKL title in Season 10, could only finish eighth without him.

On leading Puneri Paltan to glory in Season 10, Aslam revealed that his only focus during the title-winning campaign was team success.

"I just wanted to lift the trophy that season. Every year, I want to lift the trophy and make my team win. I never took a lot of points for myself because winning as a team is more important. When your team wins, your value increases. Otherwise, no matter how many points you score, no one will ask you much," he added."My aim was to win the trophy. I didn't score much that season. I think I scored around 160-170 points. Managing the team well was very important. My team was playing well. We had a strong bench. Sometimes they told me they wanted to play, and I gave them 2-3 matches. I told them they had potential, and I sat out during those games. If I saw that we were losing, I returned to the mat and helped win matches. Every player in the team had one goal, to have their photo with the trophy at the end of the season, and we achieved it," Aslam said.

In his PKL career, Aslam has scored 545 points in 70 matches. Even in his injury-hit Season 11, he managed 38 points in seven games.

The Maharashtra-born star credited the league and Puneri Paltan for transforming his career.

"PKL has changed my life. Many kabaddi players come from financially unstable backgrounds. Unlike other sports like cricket, kabaddi doesn't require expensive equipment, just a t-shirt and shorts, and you can start. PKL gave players from middle-class families a platform and made them stars," he noted.

"I would like to thank PKL for changing the lives of players like me. I also thank Puneri Paltan management, our owners, and my team. They helped me a lot in every situation, and they are still helping me," he added.

Before making his mark in kabaddi, Aslam faced several hardships, including working at a hotel while pursuing his dream.

"I loved kabaddi from the start, but my elder brother wouldn't let me play because there was no glamour in the sport before 2014. Later, when he joined the police, I began practising daily with seniors in my village. I realised that there would be nobody to stop me from practising as my brother was not around," he said.

"I worked all day, sometimes at night," Aslam noted."I wasn't financially stable at all because I had to do it myself. My mother supported me a lot. My schedule was to wake up at 5 am, work out quietly, return home by 6-7 am, get ready by 7-8 am, work all day, and then go to practice by 5-6 pm. It became routine, and my body got used to it. I used to do it with pleasure. Nothing came to my mind that I was tired and I couldn't do it," he said.

- ANI