How Pro-Kabaddi changed the face of Indian Sports

Honestly, I am not much of a sports fan. If anything, it bores me and so I hardly ever watch any sports channels. But my perspective changed the day I had to watch a Pro-Kabaddi League match for a review write-up.

Not one boring moment, not once did I think of getting up- it was just so interesting and simple. A game of strategy, strength, passion, and perseverance… yes, that’s the game which originated in India thousands of years ago. That’s the game which, when given a chance, changed the face of modern Indian sports. That’s Kabaddi!

Kabaddi: History and Gameplay

But let’s know more about the game before delving into the reasons for its current success –
Also known as the game of struggle, Kabaddi is a high-intensity contact sport, with seven players on each team. It is said that this sport is derived from ‘Chakravyuh’, a seven-layered defensive formation used at the time of the Mahabharata war. The game, in its current form, took shape in the 1930s India.
The objective of the game is simple- a single player on offense (the Raider) goes to the opponent’s side and tag out as many of their defenders as possible. After this, they have to return to their own side without being tackled by the opposite team. If he is successful, he earns a point and all the defenders he touched are out, if not, he is out. In the end, the team with more points wins.

India led any and all international tournaments when it came to Kabaddi. Whether Asian games or the summer Olympics, Kabaddi made a mark of its own globally. That was until it got overshadowed by other sports in its own birth country and put on sidelines for decades.
Until 2014, when Pro-Kabaddi League was launched.

How Pro-Kabaddi changed the face of Indian sports

Pro-Kabaddi League was an initiative of Mashal Sports and highlighted the strong suits of the game. It reinvented and promoted the entire thing as a sport for the passionate and the fierce. Something which can be enjoyed as much by an amateur as by a professional. It also gave new hope to players, who were for most of the part, ignored until now. These amazing sports-people rose from obscurity to limelight because the Pro-Kabaddi League provided them a bigger, more visible platform.

Roping in big celebrities for promotions provided the necessary push too, and before anyone realized Kabaddi had become everyone’s favorite. Already six seasons in, the fever of Pro-Kabaddi doesn’t look like it will be dissipating anytime soon.