Kabaddi - A glorious past, an even brighter future

A still from the first season of the Pro Kabaddi League

The 1936 Olympics or the Hitler Games, as they were known, is best remembered by us Indians for the heroics of our then unstoppable hockey team led by the famed Dhyan Chand. So bewildering were his skills, that the aforementioned dictator himself was left awe-struck and amazed by his artistry in the Olympic village, Berlin.

Dhyanchand and his team weren’t the only ones from our country to mesmerize the crowds that year though. The Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal from Amaravati in Maharashtra demonstrated the sport in front of brimming crowds, and thus introduced the world to the marvel that kabaddi is.

Soon after the Second World War (in 1950), a governing body was formed in Delhi, namely the All India Kabaddi Federation to oversee the development of the game in our country. Within no time, it managed to branch out to other parts of Asia and there are records of an Indian contingent touring Japan for a couple of months under Prof. Sundar Ram to initiate the sport there.

India has been dominant in all multi-national kabaddi tournaments

Shortly afterwards, Bangladesh were invited to play at different places including Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Punjab. A year later, the Asian Kabaddi Championship was hosted and India and Bangladesh, with a wealth of experience behind them, finished winners and runners-up. The same order was repeated when the tournament returned for a 2^nd edition 5 years later.

The game was soon included for the first time in the Asian Games in Beijing in 1990 and thus began one of the most extended phases of domination by any particular country in an international sport. Kabaddi has been included as a sport in 6 Asian Games and there have been 5 editions of the World Cup since, and not surprisingly our team has won it all. Yes! Every time there has been a global event in the sport, we have won it.

It’s only fitting thus that the game has been revolutionized in the country of its origin over the last year or so. The Pro Kabaddi League, following a franchisee based model was received amazingly well by people in its first season. From celebrity owners to filled stadiums, the league had a spectacular start. So much so, that after the much popular Indian Premier League, PKL was the 2nd most viewed sporting spectacle on Television last year. So much for being labeled a game for the rural masses.

As the league returns for the 2nd season in less than 10 days, we would take you through the franchisees, their preparations and all the inside stories in detail! The game and the players are very much here to stay and we, at Sportskeeda won’t let it fade for you.