If you’ve never heard of Kabaddi don’t worry, it’s only been around for about 5,000 years.
It’s essentially a huge game of tag played on a court with players ducking and diving all over the place while screaming… Kabaddi!
Those in the know are already aware that the beautiful madness of Kabaddi is coming to England in March, 2025.
And, even more excitingly, Paddy’s sponsoring the jamboree. Huzzah!
It’s sure to be the talk of the town so why not take a minute or two to get clued up on the game that’s set to sweep the world?
Some of the rules are absolutely sensational so set aside five minutes, see how long you can shout Kabaddi for while chasing your cats in your underpants.
Origin of Kabaddi
Originating in India 5,000 years ago to develop self-defence, Kabaddi combines elements from wrestling, rugby and fencing. Alternating between attack and defence, two teams of 12 (7 active players and 5 reserves) compete across four 10 minute quarters, to score points by touching or capturing their opponents while chanting “Kabaddi! Kabaddi! Kabaddi!”.
Known as the Game of the Masses due to its simplicity, small court size and accessibility, Kabaddi is extremely popular in Asia and was introduced into the Olympics as a demonstration sport in 1938. Traditionally played outside on a clay court, the increased global popularity has resulted in International Kabaddi games being played indoors on synthetic surfaces (mats.)
The only combative sport in which offence is an individual effort and defence is a group effort, Kabbadi has been the sport of choice for Indian royalty and even Gautama Buddha!
How to play
The objective of Kabaddi is to score more points than the opposition team during the allotted time. Points are scored by both attacking and defending and teams score 1 point for each opponent they put out of the game.
Raiding: When attacking, the offensive team send a raider into the opposition half with the objective of touching one or more defending players without being tackled. Raiders must complete the raid in one breath.
To prove this the raider 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 defence play.
Teams take turns to send raiders into their opponents half. Points are scored for each player tagged by the raider. Bonus points are also available for successfully touching the bonus line in an opponents half.
Defending: The team being raided is defending, and the players must prevent the raiders from tagging them and returning back over the halfway line. When in defence, a team may score a point by successfully preventing the raider from 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.
Tackling: Players are taken out of the game if they are touched or tackled but are brought back in for each point scored by their team from a tag or tackle.
Teams: Total numbers of players in each team is 12. Only seven players are allowed onto the playing court. The remaining five will be kept as reserves/substitutes. During the game only the leader is allowed to give instructions to the other players in his team.
Rules of Kabaddi
- 12 players per team with only 7 taking to the field at any one time.
- Six officials per match: referee, scorer, two assistant scorers and two umpires.
- Match duration: 50 minutes (four 10 minutes quarters with two rest breaks of 2 minutes 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.
- Each raid lasts a maximum of 30 seconds, a siren is sounded announcing 10 seconds remaining, signalling a raider should conclude their raid.
- 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.
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