Naveen Kumar Goyat is an Indian professional kabaddi player who plays for the India national kabaddi team and captains Dabang Delhi in the Pro Kabaddi League. His speedy raiding and consistency makes him one of the best raiders in the league.[2][3]
Naveen was born in Sultanpur, Haryana on 14th February, 2000. [4] His father was a driver; and he was introduced to the sport by his grandfather. [5] He completed his education at Kurukshetra University. [6] He is the first person born in the twenty first century to play in the Pro Kabaddi League, and was also the youngest to do so. [6]
Naveen made his debut in 2018, 2018–19 Pro Kabaddi League season|Season 6 of the Pro Kabaddi League for the club Dabang Delhi. He finished the season as the team's top scorer with 177 points and led it to the playoffs. [7]
He performed consistently in 2019 Pro Kabaddi League season|Season 7 and won the Most Valuable Player Award (MVP).[8] The team emerged runner-up. [9][10][11][12] His performance placed him as one of the league's best raiders, scoring 300 points in a single season. [13][14] He scored Super 10s (more than 10 points in a single game) in 22 of the 23 matches he played. [15][16]He also got the nickname 'Naveen Express' for his speedy raids and consistency. [17]
Naveen played well in the first few matches of the 2021–22 Pro Kabaddi League season|tournament and the team won initial games. [18][19][20][21]He also became the fastest player to reach 600 points in the history of the league. [22][23] However, he had to walk out in the middle due to an injury. [24][14][25][26]
Naveen Kumar plays for the India national kabaddi team. He was a part of the national team at the 2019 South Asian Games|13th South-Asian Games, where he played an important role in helping the team win the tournament. [27][28]