“If India Has Chosen Me, I Will Have to Do It”: Devank Dalal Embraces the Weight of Expectations

There is a difference between carrying pressure and carrying responsibility. For Devank Dalal, that distinction could define his first Asian Games experience.

The 23-year-old is heading to the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 for the first time, having earned his place in the Indian men’s kabaddi team after an impressive domestic season. Rather than allowing the occasion to overwhelm him, Dalal sees his selection as a straightforward challenge: India has trusted him, and now he wants to repay that trust with a gold medal.

“If India has chosen me, I will have to do it,” Dalal said ahead of the Games. It is a simple statement, but one that captures the mindset with which the young raider is approaching his biggest assignment yet.

Dalal enters the Indian squad after an impressive Pro Kabaddi League Season 12, where he finished as the league’s second-highest scoring raider with 271 raid points. That performance earned him an international opportunity and, with it, a completely different level of expectation. The Asian Games are not another league season. Every match carries the weight of representing the country, and for a debutant, the occasion can be as challenging mentally as it is physically.

Dalal, however, refuses to frame it that way. “This is my first time going to an Asian Games. I am happy for myself, my family and my coach. I am happy for everyone. Now that I am going, my responsibilities have increased,” he said.

His objective is equally clear: “I will have to bring gold for India.”

For Dalal, the key is not to eliminate expectations but to change the way he looks at them. “Pressure and responsibility are two different things,” he explained.

That distinction is particularly important in kabaddi, where hesitation can cost a team a raid, a tackle or an entire match. Dalal believes that allowing pressure to influence decision-making would only undermine the very performance India expects from him. “You don’t have to take pressure,” he said. “Here, there is only responsibility, not pressure.”

The young raider's approach is to focus on playing freely and trusting the preparation that has brought him to the national team. “If you take pressure, you won’t be able to play. If you don’t play, how will India win? We will play without pressure and win,” he added.

Inamdar Brings Experience

While Dalal represents the new generation, Aslam Inamdar provides a direct link to India's recent Asian Games success. Inamdar was part of the Indian men's team that won gold at the 2022 Asian Games, held in Hangzhou in 2023. His experience of that campaign gives him an important role within a squad that contains several players making their first appearance at this level.

For Inamdar, one of the biggest strengths of the current team is its familiarity with one another. “There is a very good bonding with the team,” he said, pointing to the experience the players have gained together through the Pro Kabaddi League and national camps.

The Indian squad features several players who are leaders and key performers for their respective PKL franchises. That shared experience has helped the group develop chemistry before arriving in Japan.

Inamdar also understands that domestic experience and international experience are not necessarily the same thing. Young players such as Ayan Lohchab, Ankit Jaglan and Rahul Sethpal have already accumulated significant experience in the PKL and domestic competitions. But an Asian Games match brings a different atmosphere and a different kind of responsibility.

“International match is a little different,” Inamdar said. His message to the younger members of the squad is therefore straightforward: remain consistent, play with a free mind and understand the privilege of representing India. For a team chasing gold, that balance between experienced heads and emerging talent could become important as the tournament progresses.

India will begin its Asian Games campaign against hosts Japan on September 21. The group stage continues against the aof Korea on September 22, followed by Bangladesh on September 23 and Chinese Taipei on September 24. The semifinals are scheduled for September 25, with the gold-medal match on September 26.

India will enter the tournament with the ambition of retaining its position at the top of Asian men's kabaddi. The squad combines established stars such as Pawan Sehrawat and Arjun Deshwal, experienced players including Inamdar and captain Sunil Kumar, and younger names such as Dalal and Ayan.

India’s Men’s Kabaddi Squad

• Sunil Kumar (Captain)

• Pawan Sehrawat

• Ankit Jaglan

• Aslam Inamdar

• Ashu Malik

• Ayan Lohchab

• Devank Dalal

• Arjun Deshwal

• Jaideep Dahiya

• Rahul Sethpal

• Gaurav Khatri

• Sumit Sangwan

For Dalal, the first Asian Games appearance is already a milestone. But he does not want the achievement to end with selection.

His words reveal the mindset: selection has created responsibility, not fear. And when India steps onto the mat in Aichi-Nagoya, the debutant raider will have an opportunity to turn that responsibility into performance — with a gold medal firmly in his sights.