Kabaddi is a popular contact ancient Indian sport that first originated in Ancient India and t is popular in the Indian subcontinent and other surrounding and South Asian countries, such as Iran and Pakistan. Although ancient accounts of kabaddi appear in the histories of both modern-day India and Iran, the game was popularized as a competitive sport in the 20th century by India; it is the state game of the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh. It is also the national sport of Bangladesh.
The word Kabaddi has come from a Tamil word, Kai-pidi which means “holding hands”.
History of Kabaddi
For many years, Kabaddi was played for physical exercise by pupils in Indian Vedic schools.Gurus ran these schools, thus came to be known as Gurukuls. Though minor variations emerged, the game’s principal objective of raiding the enemy territory remained common.
Despite these conflicting claims, India has been credited with having helped to popularize Kabaddi as a competitive Sport, with the first organized competitions occurring in the 1920’s, their introduction to the programme of the Indian Olympic Games in 1938, the establishment of the All-India Kabaddi Federation in 1950, and being played as a demonstration sport at the inaugural 1951 Asian Games in New Delhi. These developments helped to formalize the sport, which had traditionally been played in villages, for legitimate international competition
After being demonstrated again at the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi, kabaddi was added to the Asian Games’ programme beginning in 1990
Rules of Kabaddi
- Each team shall consist of no more than 12 players with only 7 taking to the field at any one time.
- Because of the physical nature of Kabaddi, matches are categorized in age and weight categories.
- There are six officials looking after each Kabaddi match. The officials comprise of a referee, a scorer, two assistant scorers and two umpires.
- The duration of the match is two halves of 20 minutes with a half time break of 5 minutes.
- At the start of a Kabaddi match, there is a coin toss with the winner having the choice as to whether to have the first raid or not. In the second half of the match, the team that did not raid first shall begin the second half with a raid.
- To win a point when raiding, the raider must take a breath and run into the opposition’s half and tag one or more members of the opposing team and then return to their own half of the pitch before inhaling again.
- To prove that another breath hasn’t been taken, the rider must continue to repeatedly yell the word ‘Kabaddi’. Failure to do this, even for just a moment means that the rider must return to their own side of the court without points and the opposite team is awarded a point for a successful defense play.
- The team being raided is defending, and the players must prevent the raiders from tagging them and returning back over the halfway line. Whilst in defence, a team may score a point by successfully preventing the raider returning to their own half after tagging them. Raiders may only be grabbed by their limbs or torso, not by their hair, clothes or anywhere else, and defenders are not permitted to cross the centre line.
- Each team will take turns in raiding and defending. Following halftime, the two teams switch sides of the court and the team who defended first in the first half begin the second half by raiding.
- The game continues in this way until the time is up, the team with the most points at the end of the match is declared the winner.
The overall object of the game is to simply score more points than the opposition team within the allotted time. To do this, each team must attempt to score points by both attacking and defending. When attacking, the offensive team sends across a Raider into the opposition’s half who must touch one of more members of the opposition to score a point. When defending, the objective is to capture the raider by wrestling them to the ground or simply by preventing them returning to their own half by the time their breath is up. Teams score one point for each opponent that they put out of the game. Putting an opponent out (and thus scoring a point) is done in different ways. When attacking, this is done by the raider touching opposition members, putting them out. When defending, it is done by preventing the raider returning to their own half.
Bonus points are also available in Kabaddi. The raider can earn an extra point by successfully touching the bonus line in the opposition’s half. Three bonus points are available to a team when all of their opponents are declared out and a point is also available if any part of an opposing team member’s body goes outside of the boundary.
At the end of the match, the team with the most points is declared the winner. If at the end of the game both teams have the same amount of points, then the game is deemed to be a draw.
Specification of Playfield & Related Equipment Required:
- Size of Kabaddi Court: 13 x 10 m (33 x 43 ft) for men & 8 x 12 m (26 x 39 ft) for women
- Duration of Game: 20 min halves with 5 min break
- No. of Players: 7 or ( 5 reserve player)
- Equipment required: No Special equipment required for this Sport. Only player has to wear Team dresses with sports shoes
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