The rise and rise of kabaddi, an ancient Indian sport

Sports fans in India these days are spoiled. Their televisions and streaming services offer a mouth-watering menu of sporting fare. There’s football, from all the big European leagues; all kinds of combat sports; tennis, badminton and squash; and of course cricket from every corner of the country and the world. And from this week, Indian sports-lovers can feast once more on a local speciality: the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL).

Kabaddi is said to date back 4,000 years. As well as one of the world’s oldest sports, it is perhaps also its simplest. No ball is involved nor equipment needed; a patch of land suffices. This is divided equally between two teams of seven. They take turns to dispatch a “raider” into enemy territory. Once there the raider tries to tag as many opponents as possible, touch a line deep in their terrain and return home without getting captured. He must do it all in one breath, evidenced by chanting “kabaddi, kabaddi” continuously from start to finish (the term comes from the Tamil kai piddi, which means “hold hands”, a common defensive technique used to entrap raiders). Attack demands agility and stamina; defence, strength and teamwork.