Kabaddi is thought-about one among the historic sports activities in India, with a couple of historians even suggesting that it dates again to the Vedic interval. Till about a few a long time in the past, this contact workforce sport was thought-about ‘rustic’, predominantly performed in the rural backdrop of the nation.
But at present, thanks to the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), the sport has reached virtually each family in a single day, gamers have grow to be celebrities, groups have carved their very own model identities, and PKL is solely behind cricket when it comes to viewership.
Like all sports activities leagues, PKL has had its personal ups and downs in its journey.
“Choosing an indigenous team contact sport as kabaddi, itself was a daring move. But Mashal and then Star India decided to do it. The journey began in 2014 with just eight teams and today we are in 12 season with 12 teams, and our popularity is only growing. The very fact that kabaddi players today are paid the highest salaries, when compared to any other league, except cricket, stands as a testimony to its success,” Anupam Goswami, Business Head of Mashal Sports and Chairman-PKL, mentioned in an unique chat with The Hindu.
What additionally contributes to PKL’s success is that the house owners of every workforce, starting from the Kotaks to Abhishek Bachchan and from the Adanis to GMR, are obsessed with the recreation, their membership, the league, and are targeted on scouting the finest expertise from throughout India and growing them into effective athletes.
Steady progress
The fan following has additionally steadily grown. In 2014, PKL caught the creativeness of the nation, producing a viewership of over 43 crore throughout the nation in its inaugural season, the highest after cricket. This had set the ball rolling, however the problem was to current a recreation like kabaddi earlier than a new-age sports activities fan and do it as a up to date and future-looking sport.
According to Goswami, content material performs an essential position. “The sport has to keep evolving and cannot take the audience for granted. The challenge is to innovate and make it more engaging for the contemporary and the next generation,” he famous.
Goswami additionally known as for the Indian authorities to push for kabaddi’s inclusion in varied international occasions. “It is now up to the government and federations to pitch kabaddi as an Olympic sport. But our primary focus should be to pitch the game for the 2030 Commonwealth Games, which India might be hosting,” he remarked.
