“Ise toh gavaaron ka khel kehte the gaon mein,” (They used to call it a sport for illiterates in my village) quips 18-year-old Surender Singh when asked about how the sport of kabaddi has changed in the last two years in his village. A similar answer is received from 20-year-old Siddharth, who says that people were dropping out from kabaddi and that there was no scope for players to make it to a decent level.
All of it has changed though with the arrival of the Pro Kabaddi League, which has gone from strength to strength and has made the sport the second-most popular in the nation. The first season, held in 2014 and featuring eight teams, was an instant hit and recorded 435 million viewers across India, something that seemed virtually impossible at the time.
The growth story did not stop there. Over the four seasons of the competition, a cumulative viewership growth of 51% has been recorded, the highest for any sporting league in the company.
The likes of Anup Kumar, Rahul Chaudhuri and Manjeet Chhillar have become household names, especially after India lifted the inaugural Kabaddi World Cup in October, which featured 12 teams and included teams such as Poland, Argentina and Kenya – places where you would never expect an Indian indigenous sport to prosper.
Season five is now all set to get underway this July and will be bigger than ever, making the league the biggest in the country in terms of duration and geographical coverage.
Four new teams have been added from four different states and the competition will be spread across 13 weeks, featuring over 130 matches. On May 22, proceedings will kick off with the players’ auction, with teams looking to build from scratch and shape their squads for the coming campaign.
With an increase in the number of teams, a subsequent jump in the number of players to fill the rosters is a humongous challenge. Mashal Sports has completed a three-phase program to create a pool of the country’s top kabaddi talents in the age group of 18-22 years.
Trials, which were open for all, were conducted in 15 cities across India, which saw a total of 4710 participants showcase their skills.
On the basis of in-game abilities as well as physical qualities, 310 players were shortlisted and underwent further screening for five days at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Gandhinagar.
In the final phase, a 30-day training camp was organised in Mumbai, from where a final list of 131 athletes was prepared. All of them will go under the hammer come Monday under the ‘New Young Players’ category, where they have a chance of getting snapped up by one of the 12 sides.
Surender and Siddharth are two out of the group of 131 and for the both of them, this is a chance to become a part of the kabaddi movement that has taken the country by storm.
Surender, who hails from Himachal Pradesh, said that the PKL is the best thing to have happened to the sport. “Earlier, we kabaddi players were looked down upon. But now, we are respected in our village and wherever we go,” he said.
“In my village, children only played cricket or football,” says Siddharth, the man from Haryana. “After the PKL boom, we have juniors turning to kabaddi as well as seniors, who had earlier retired from the sport. Now we have regular tournaments, which are highly competitive and feature teams from all across the state. It’s something really special.”
But what is so special about kabaddi and the league? Why has it become so popular? “As a viewer, you can never get bored of it. The sport is our own and is in itself, very interesting. Every match has something unique and new to offer,” explains Siddharth, who is an all-rounder, like his idol Manjeet Chhillar.
Three months and 130 matches can become a lot for the viewer, but both players are confident that the public’s interest will only grow.
Expectations are high from the upcoming season and for the players, it presents a golden opportunity to make a name for themselves.
“We are very happy that we have been given this chance and we hope to get picked up by a team. We will give our best!”, concludes Surender. All eyes are now on Monday for the players' auction as we count down to what will surely be a historic moment in the sport's short history.
Also Read: Pro Kabaddi League Season 5: List of retained players announced
