Kabaddi gets a fresh breath

Today is the auction for the kabaddi league, taking place in Mumbai. There are eight franchises from around India and probably for the first time, we will hear and see names and faces of Kabaddi which we have never heard or seen before.

Unlike IPL, where we get a direct peek into the proceedings of auction, it might be just a new item, nothing ‘Breaking news’ unless of course, we see Abhishek Bachchan or Ronnie Screwvala making a splash. And also unlike cricket, we are unlikely to see such big money going behind the players. The annual franchise owners membership investment is Rs.5 crore, which is more than what even a junior player earns in IPL.

Kabaddi is truly an Indian sport, not ‘imported’ from England. As per Wikepedia, the word Kabaddi is derived from a Tamil word Kai-pidi, literally meaning "(let's) Hold Hands", which is indeed the crucial aspect of play. It is the national game of Bangladesh, and the state game of Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh in India. It is popular in Punjab and it is showing some signs of popularity in UK and there are even teams now coming in for international matches from USA, Canada and of course Pakistan . This game is also included in the Asian Games.

This is once again maybe a typical attitude of us Indians – we are so soon to adapt and ‘make our own’ anything which is imported but when its desi bred, we are eager to put as much distance as possible. Unfortunately, this attitude spills into something as universal as sports – or else why hasn’t kabaddi got its due which it truly deserves?