Mumbai, Jan 5 (IANS): Masanamuthu Lakshnanan was the talk of the town when he was picked by the Tamil Thalaivas for INR 31.6 lakh in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 Auction last year. However, Lakshnanan's home in his village in Thoothukudi was damaged due to the heavy floods in the region in December.

The raider said that he's taking the responsibility of building a new home for his parents, "My parents are currently staying in a school in the village. The government has made temporary homes in the school for all the people, who have been affected by floods. We are going to build a hut before we can complete building the new home."

Furthermore, Lakshnanan and U Mumba's Visvanth V will donate funds for the renovation of all the homes that were affected by the floods, "Visvanth V, who is also from Thoothukudi, and myself are going to donate funds to refurbish the homes, which were affected by the floods in our district. I am going to donate the entire amount (INR 31.6 lakh) I earned at the Pro Kabaddi League Auction last year."

When asked about how he started playing kabaddi, Lakshnanan said, "I started playing kabaddi in the sixth standard in my village, which is in Thoothukudi district. I moved to a different school in the eleventh standard and improved my game even more with the coaches present in that school. Post my schooling, my game improved even more when I joined the Sports Authority of India in Chennai."

The raider expressed that his parents weren't too happy with his move to Chennai, "My parents weren't too keen to see me become a kabaddi player because it's an injury-prone game and they half-heartedly sent me to Chennai. I moved from my village to the SAI hostel at the age of 18. I moved out of the hostel and I took a room on rent recently. I work as a Tax Assistant in the Income Tax Department in Chennai when I am not playing kabaddi."

Masanamuthu Lakshnanan, who has played three games in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 10 so far, will be hoping to play a major role in Tamil Thalaivas' campaign in the team's upcoming matches in the season.