Kabaddi is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players, originating in Punjab region. The objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their players as possible, and return to their own half of the court, all without being tackled by the defenders in 30 seconds. Points are scored for each player tagged by the raider, while the opposing team earns a point for stopping the raider. Players are taken out of the game if they are touched or tackled, but return to the game after each point scored by their team from a tag or tackle.
Kabaddi, is a contact sport, native to the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the most popular sports in India, played mainly among people in villages. India has taken part in four Asian Games in kabaddi, and won gold in all of them. Four forms of kabaddi played in India are Amar, Suranjeevi, huttuttoo, and Gaminee. Amar is generally played in Punjab, Haryana, the United States, Canada, and other parts of the world, mostly by Punjabi sportsmen. Suranjeevi is the most played form of kabaddi in India and the world. This is the form used in international matches generally and played in Asian Games. Huttuttoo was played by men in Maharashtra. In Gaminee style, seven players play on each side and a player put out has to remain out until all his team members are out. The team that is successful in outing all the players of the opponent's side secures a point. The game continues until five or seven such points are secured and has no fixed time duration.
Rakesh Kumar is a former Indian professional Kabaddi player and Coach of Haryana Steelers. He was the vice-captain of the Indian team that won the gold medal at the 2007 World Cup at Panvel, India. In 2011, in recognition of his achievements in the sport, he was awarded the Arjuna Award by the Government of India.
Pro Kabaddi League or abbreviated to PKL is an Indian men's professional Kabaddi league. It was launched in 2014 and is broadcast on Star Sports. It is the most popular kabaddi league in the world. It is also the second most watched sports league in India after the Indian Premier League (IPL). Puneri Paltan are the current champions of PKL.
Patna Pirates (PTP) is a professional kabaddi team based in Patna, Bihar, that plays in the Pro Kabaddi League. The team is led by Sachin Tanwar and coached by Narender Redu. Their home ground is the Patliputra Sports Complex. The Pirates are the most successful team in PKL history with a record of winning 3 out of 8 titles and winning all of them in successive. They are also one time runners up in season 8 of pkl which started after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pardeep Narwal is an Indian kabaddi player who currently plays for the UP Yoddha in Pro Kabaddi League and the Indian National Kabaddi team. Widely regarded as the greatest raider in Kabaddi history, he led the Patna Pirates to three straight VIVO Pro Kabaddi titles and holds a multitude of the league's raiding records.
Manjeet Chhillar is an Indian former professional kabaddi player who currently serves as the assistant coach of Telugu Titans. During his professional career, he played for the Indian national team and won a gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games and 2014 Asian Indoor Games in Incheon. He also played for teams in the Pro Kabaddi League including Bengaluru Bulls, Puneri Paltan, Jaipur Pink Panthers, Tamil Thalaivas, and Dabang Delhi. The Government of India conferred the Arjuna Award on him for his achievements in sports. In an exclusive chat with NNIS Sports, Chhillar termed it as a 'dream' to receive the prestigious award. He was also the member of state team of Haryana and is on top of Pro Kabaddi’s all-time leaderboards for tackle points (391), successful tackles (374) and High 5s (25).
The 2017 Vivo Pro Kabaddi League season was the fifth season of Pro Kabaddi League, a professional kabaddi league in India since 2014. It is organised by Mashal Sports and Star India. This season includes 12 teams after the inclusion of four new teams: UP Yoddha, Tamil Thalaivas, Haryana Steelers and Gujarat Fortunegiants.
Dharmaraj Cheralathan is an Indian Kabaddi player who currently represents Jaipur Pink Panthers in the VIVO Pro Kabaddi league. He was a member of the Indian Kabaddi team that won gold at the Kabaddi World Cup in 2016. Nicknamed “Anna”, Cheralathan led Patna Pirates to the Pro Kabaddi league in Season 4 and is one of the leading Super Tackle scorers in VIVO Pro Kabaddi history. He is capable of playing as both a right and left corner, Cheralathan has more than two decades of experience. The veteran defender is tactically sound and has consistently combined his experience and intelligence to outwit raiders.
Fazel Atrachali is an Iranian kabaddi player who currently captains Gujarat Giants (kabaddi) in the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League and the Iran National kabaddi team.
Mohit Chhillar is an Indian kabaddi player who currently plays for Tamil Thalaivas in the VIVO Pro Kabaddi League. He hails from Nizampur, Haryana and has been one of India's best defenders for the past decade. He is a versatile defender who can complement other corner defenders and form successful partnerships. Known for his overpowering holds and swift dashes, Mohit is fifth in the league's all-time High 5s (17) chart and fourth in the Tackle Points (240) and Super Tackles (20) leaderboards.
The 2018–19 Vivo Pro Kabaddi League was the sixth season of Pro Kabaddi League, a professional kabaddi league in India since 2014. The season began on 7 October 2018 and concluded on 5 January 2019.
Hadi Oshtorak is an Iranian kabaddi player that represents Iran in international matches and also currently plays for Gujarat Giants in the Indian Pro Kabaddi League. He is regarded as one of the finest all rounders in the Pro Kabaddi League scoring over 50 points.
Pawan Kumar Sehrawat is an Indian kabaddi player who plays for Telugu Titans in the Pro Kabaddi League and represents Reserve Bank of India. Pawan became the most expensive player in the history of the Pro kabbadi league when Tamil Thalaivas picked him for ₹ 2.26 crores for the ninth season. He was bought by the Telugu Titans for Rs 2.60 crore for the tenth season and with this, he became the most expensive player in the history of the Pro Kabaddi League again.
Naib Subedar Monu Goyat is an Indian kabaddi player and an Indian Army Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO). He was part of the India national kabaddi team that won a bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games. He will play for Patna Pirates again in the Pro Kabaddi League 2021 starting from 22 Dec. Goyat was part of Patna Pirates' triumphant 2017 Pro Kabaddi League season and was the most expensive purchase in the 2018–19 Pro Kabaddi League season at ₹15.1 million (US$190,000).
Sachin Tanwar is an Indian kabaddi player who currently plays for the Patna Pirates in the Pro Kabaddi League and the Indian national team. He was among the top 10 raid point scorers in the league in his first two seasons. He made his debut for the Indian kabaddi team in 2017. He was part of the Indian team that won the gold at the 2022 Asian Games kabaddi competitions. India beat Iran 33-29 in a controversial final.
The 2021–22 Vivo Pro Kabaddi League was the eighth season of Pro Kabaddi League. The season began on 22 December 2021. The usual travelling caravan format was changed to a single venue hosting all the matches of the season due to spread of COVID-19 pandemic in India. Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bangalore was initially announced as the venue, but was later changed to the Sheraton Grand Hotel and Convention Center located in Whitefield, Bangalore.
Naveen Kumar Goyat is an Indian professional kabaddi player who plays for the Indian national kabaddi team and Dabang Delhi KC in the Pro Kabaddi League. His speedy raiding and consistency makes him one of the best raiders in the league. He was part of the Indian Kabaddi team that won the gold medal at the 2022 Asian Games. India defeated Iran 33-29 in a controversial final.
The 2022 Vivo Pro Kabaddi League was the ninth season of Pro Kabaddi League. The season began on 7 October 2022 and ended on 17 December 2022. Jaipur Pink Panthers defeated Puneri Paltan in the final match to win their second title.
The 2023–2024 Pro Kabaddi League was the tenth season of the Pro Kabaddi League, a franchise based kabaddi league in India. Jaipur Pink Panthers were the defending champions.
