Kabaddi comes calling!

Can a native Indian game blossom in this Cricket-mad country?  Can hundreds of crores be spent on players auction outside cricket? Can a rural Indian sport attract foreign players to play in its teams? Do our super stars from films, cricket and industry come forward to sponsor teams in a game other than cricket?  Can a village sport born and brought up exclusively in India knock the doors to be included in Olympics? Yes........all these revolutionary developments can happen only in India,,,,,,, in our own Kabaddi, Kabaddi, Kabaddi!

Kabaddi is a rural Indian sports.  But it has now hit the top of the world! India is the reigning world and Asia champion!

Kabaddi is said to have originated in India even before Mahabharat times.  Guru Drona is said to have designed 'Chakravyuha' by suitably adopting the Kabaddi tactics. Modern Kabaddi is said to have originated from  the villages of Punjab.  The game further evolved in Maharashtra.  The title 'Kabaddi' is said to have originated from the Tamil word 'kai-pidi'.

Kabaddi is the national game of Bangladesh.  India introduced Kabaddi as a demonstration game in Berlin Olympics during 1936. Kabaddi was introduced in to Asian games during 1990 and since then in both men and women formats Gold medal is won by India.  Kabaddi world cup started during 2003 and since then India is the champion.  Very soon Kabaddi will hit Olympics too!

Pro-Kabaddi League (PKL) , the IPL-cricket version of Kabaddi was started during 2014 and in the ensuing  5th PKL-2017 set to start from 28th July 2017, 12 teams are set to participate. Team ownership has seen investment of hundreds of crores attracting celebrities from different fields.

• Sachin Tendulkar owns Team Tamilnadu
• Abhishek Bachhan owns Jaipur Pink Panthers
• Team Uttar Pradesh is owned by GMR group
• Bengal Warriors is owned by Big Bazar group
• Team Gujarat is owned by Adani group

Top 5 expensive players in Pro Kabaddi 2017 auction include..........

1.Nitin Tomar -     93 Lakhs - Team UP

2.Rohit Kumar -    81 Lakhs - Bengaluru Bulls

3.Manjeet Chillar -75.5 Lakhs - Jaipur Pink     

   Panthers

4.Surjeet Singh -    73 Lakhs - Bengal Warriors

5.Selvamani -         73 Lakhs - Jaipur Pink 

   Panthers

  

Let us recapitulate some technical aspects of this exciting game.

There are 7 players on either sides and the game unfolds by raids.......one player goes to the other court chanting Kabaddi, Kabaddi for a maximum period of 30 seconds and tries to score point by touching opponents.  A raid will be followed by a counter raid and the team receiving him is called the defending team.  The game continues with the series of raids and defenses.

1.Raid Point: Look at Pic 1.When a raider touches a defender and returns to his court in 30 seconds, a raid point is awarded.

2.Tackle Point: When an raider is successfully caught by the defending team preventing him from touching the central line within permitted 30 seconds, the defending team is awarded a tackle point.

3.Super Raid: As in Pic 3, if a raider is able in picking up three or more points on the rival team in a single attempt, the move is referred to as Super raid.

4.Super Tackle: Look at Pic 4.  When a team has three or less defenders on court and they successfully tackle an opposition raider, an additional point is awarded and the tackle is called a super tackle.

5.Do-or-die raid: If a team has two back-to-back raids without scoring a point, the third raid becomes a do-or-die raid.  The raider has to score a point in this third raid, else he is deemed out.

6.All-out: When all players of a team are out, an all-out is imposed on them and the opposition team is awarded two extra points.  The play will be restarted by recalling all players of the team which suffered the all-out.

Let us cheer the arrival of  5th Pro-Kabaddi League-2017. Let us get ready to understand, appreciate, enjoy and encourage the excitement of this great game which is 'truly Indian'.

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