50 Fun Facts About Kabaddi

Which Tamil tradition is kabaddi said to descend from, with the raider cast as the bull?

Jallikattu, the bull-taming sport, is treated as kabaddi's ancestor: Sangam literature records the game under the name sadugudu, with the raider playing the bull that must be tamed without being touched.

Which Maharashtra institute's team gave a kabaddi demonstration at the 1936 Berlin Olympics?

Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal, founded around 1914 and once known as the Hanuman Akhada, showed the sport at a physical education congress held alongside the Games.

How many players does each kabaddi side field on court, with reserves waiting to be substituted?

7 players a side take the court and raid in turn, since raids alternate between the two teams for the whole match, with tagged or tackled players sitting out until their side scores.

How long is each half of an international kabaddi match, with a five-minute break to change ends?

20 minutes a half is the international standard, and the Pro Kabaddi League keeps the same clock while layering on television-friendly rules such as a weight cap and extra-point bonuses.

Under standard kabaddi rules, how many extra points does an 'all out', every opponent put off court, earn?

All out is declared when the last defender goes off; the raiding side banks two extra points and the entire opposing team is put back on court to restart.

What is a Pro Kabaddi stop by three or fewer defenders called, worth two points instead of one?

Super tackle points reward a depleted defence: the two-point reward applies only while a side has three or fewer players left, a rule added to keep one-sided matches alive.

What does Pro Kabaddi call the attempt after two empty ones, when the attacker must score or go out?

Do-or-die raid is the league's fix for stalling: a third straight blank means the raider is declared out and the defence collects the point instead.

Under what weight must every Pro Kabaddi player stay, one of the league's made-for-television rules?

85 kg is the ceiling, and the same television-minded rulebook added the Super 10 and High 5, extra points for ten raid points or five tackles by one player in a match.

Which country handed India its first Asian Games kabaddi defeat, in a 2018 group match in Jakarta?

South Korea's 24–23 group win at the Garuda Theatre was India's first loss since kabaddi became a medal sport, and the Koreans went on to their first silver.

How many reserves does a kabaddi side keep on its bench, behind the starting line-up?

5 substitutes fill out a 12-man matchday squad, though a player put out by a tag or a stop returns through revival, not substitution, once a teammate scores.

How many points must a kabaddi raider score in one attempt for it to be recorded as a 'super raid'?

3 or more points in one attempt count as a super raid; a scoreless one is an empty raid, and the Pro Kabaddi League hands an extra point to anyone reaching 10 raid points in a match.

How many raids per team does the Pro Kabaddi League use to break a playoff tie, with no clock, dismissals or revivals?

Five raids per team settle it, each taken without a time limit, and the deep marking is counted as a scoring marking so a raider can score without making a tag.

What are a kabaddi court's side strips called, live only after the raider has touched a defender?

Lobbies widen the pitch only after contact: before a raider touches anyone, stepping into them means going out, but once a defender is tagged the chase can spill into them.

Which traditional kabaddi style revives one player per opponent put out, across a 40-minute game?

Sanjeevani is the revival form: a side that puts out an entire opposing team in it earns four extra points, and the game pauses for a five-minute break between halves.

How wide is circle-style kabaddi's circular pitch, the code that holds its own separate World Cup?

22 m across is the regulation circle, and the code proved popular enough to get its own World Cup in 2010, with the first final staged in Ludhiana.

How many players per side take the sand in beach kabaddi, a barefoot game of two 15-minute halves?

4 a side is the beach format, played on levelled sand by the sea or a river and contested at the Asian Beach Games, while a five-a-side indoor version has its own shortened rules.

Which name does western India traditionally use for kabaddi, a game Nepal calls kapardi?

Hu-tu-tu is the western Indian name, and the list runs on: chedugudu in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, ha-do-do in eastern India, baibalaa in the Maldives and chakgudu in Sri Lanka.

In which year was the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India founded, compiling the standard rulebook?

1973 is the founding year of the AKFI, which followed the All-India Kabaddi Federation of 1950, and its rulebook now underpins a sport watched by hundreds of millions each year.

Which broadcaster has aired Pro Kabaddi since its debut and bought 74% of its parent Mashal in 2015?

Star Sports has carried the league since its first season in 2014, and the channel's parent Star India took control of Mashal the following year.

The first Pro Kabaddi season drew 435 million viewers, second in India only to which competition?

Indian Premier League cricket pulled 552 million that season against kabaddi's 435 million, a gap narrow enough for the broadcaster to buy control of the league's owner the next year.

Which India captain was the priciest buy at the first Pro Kabaddi auction, going for ₹12.80 lakh?

Rakesh Kumar, who had led India to Asian Games gold in 2006 and 2010, went to the Bihar franchise, while Deepak Niwas Hooda fetched ₹12.60 lakh as the second-highest price.

How many franchises contested the first Pro Kabaddi season, each paying up to US$250,000 to join?

8 franchises started out, and the league grew to 12 for its fifth season in 2017 by adding four teams, including sides for Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

Which 2017 expansion franchise won its first Pro Kabaddi title in the 2024 final, beating Patna Pirates?

Haryana Steelers, runners-up the season before, beat the league's only three-time champions in the final to become the first of the 2017 expansion teams to lift the trophy.

Which cricket legend was unveiled as co-owner of the Tamil Thalaivas at their 2017 launch?

Sachin Tendulkar signed on as co-owner when the Chennai side was unveiled in 2017, a season in which 12 franchises spent ₹46.99 crore at auction on more than 400 players.

Which city's John Cain Arena hosted a Pro Kabaddi exhibition the day before the 2024 final?

Melbourne hosted the 'Melbourne Raid' on 28 December 2024, two exhibition matches staged in Victoria while the season's trophy was settled back in India the next day.

Which Screwvala-owned side won Pro Kabaddi's second season, a year after losing the first final?

U Mumba, run by Ronnie Screwvala's Unilazer Ventures, beat Bengaluru Bulls in the 2015 final, the middle one of three consecutive finals the side reached from 2014 to 2016.

Which 'Dubki King' raider was the first to reach 1,000 Pro Kabaddi points, during the 2019 season?

Pardeep Narwal's dubki, a duck beneath the defenders' arms, carried him past 1,500 raid points in 2022 and 1,600 in 2023, after an eight-point single raid in a 2017 playoff.

Which Iranian left-corner defender was 2018's costliest foreign buy at ₹1 crore, then 2025's MVP?

Fazel Atrachali was the first player to 500 Pro Kabaddi tackle points, took Best Defender in the fourth season, and lifted the 2025 trophy as the champions' most valuable player.

Which Iranian defender was first to top ₹2 crore at three straight Pro Kabaddi auctions, to 2025?

Mohammad Reza Shadloui joined Gujarat Giants for 2025 after the June auction, his third club in three seasons, having played for Puneri Paltan in 2023.

Which 'Hi-Flyer' raider cost a record ₹2.26 crore in 2022, only to hurt a knee in his first match?

Pawan Sehrawat, bought by Tamil Thalaivas, had scored 39 raid points in a single 2019 match, the most by any raider in one game, and captained India to Asian Games gold in 2023.

Which teenage raider won the 2019 Pro Kabaddi MVP award, with a Super 10 in 22 of his 23 matches?

Naveen Kumar, the 'Naveen Express', is a bus driver's son from Bhiwani who became the fastest player to 600 league points and scored a Super 10 in a 2019 multi-sport Games final for India.

Which 'Raid Machine' reached 500 Pro Kabaddi raid points before anyone else, in July 2017?

Rahul Chaudhari began as a defender before turning raider, was first past 700 and 800 points too, and captained Telugu Titans to 193 points of his own that 2017 season.

Which 'Captain Cool' took the first Pro Kabaddi MVP award in 2014 despite losing the final?

Anup Kumar, a CRPF constable from 2005, scored 155 raid points in 16 matches that season, later led India to 2014 Asian Games gold and the 2016 World Cup title, and moved into coaching after retiring.

Which 'Ice Man' raider from Himachal Pradesh Police captained India through the 2018 Asian Games?

Ajay Thakur holds both the Padma Shri and the Arjuna Award, played for Tamil Thalaivas from 2017 to 2020, and retired from international play in late 2024.

Which Indian Army JCO became Pro Kabaddi's highest-paid player at ₹1.51 crore for the 2018 season?

Monu Goyat's fee from the Panchkula franchise beat the ₹93 lakh paid for Nitin Tomar a year earlier, and he won Asian Games bronze with India later that same year.

Which side won its lone Pro Kabaddi title in 2019, beating Dabang Delhi 39-34 in the Ahmedabad final?

Bengal Warriors, since restyled Bengal Warriorz, lifted the trophy in the season a raider first passed 1,000 league points, and now play under the nickname 'The Den of Warriorz'.

Kabaddi's first Asian Games medals were decided by a six-team round robin in which host city?

Beijing's 1990 Games staged the sport at the Teachers College of Physical Education from 23 to 28 September, and India took the gold without a final ever being played.

Women's kabaddi made its Asian Games debut at the Nansha Gymnasium in which 2010 host city?

Guangzhou's women's tournament ran from 22 to 26 November 2010, and both golds went to India, a double it has repeated at every Games bar one.

Where did India reclaim the men's Asian Games kabaddi gold with a 33–29 final win over Iran in 2023?

Hangzhou's Xiaoshan Guali Sports Centre saw India's eighth men's gold, avenging the 2018 semi-final exit, at a postponed 2022 Games played in October 2023.

Which host won the 2020 circle-style Kabaddi World Cup, its first, over an unauthorised Indian team?

Pakistan staged the event from 9 to 16 February 2020, with an opening ceremony in Lahore, and the Indian side that reached the final took part without its federation's blessing.

Which host nation of the 2025 Kabaddi World Cup lost both of its finals to India?

England's hosts used Wolverhampton, Walsall, Birmingham and Coventry from 17 to 23 March, with Scotland third in the men's event and Hong Kong China third in the women's.

Which country hosted the first World Kabaddi World Cup in 2019, deliberately staged outside India?

Malaysia's edition was pushed back from April to July, and India won both titles, with Iraq the surprise men's runner-up and Taiwan second in the women's draw.

Which Indian city hosted the first IKF Kabaddi World Cup in 2004, won by the hosts over Iran?

Mumbai staged the 2004 final, Panvel the 2007 edition and Ahmedabad 2016, every one of them won by India, while a lone women's edition was staged in 2012 in Bihar.

India beat Iran 44–26 in the 2018 'Kabaddi Masters' final, a tournament staged in which Gulf city?

Dubai's tournament came in the same year Iran knocked India out of the Asian Games semi-final, and the Iranians have finished runners-up at every IKF World Cup ever played.

Which 2020 Amazon Prime docuseries followed the Jaipur Pink Panthers through a Pro Kabaddi season?

Sons of the Soil was released on 4 December 2020 and tracked the Abhishek Bachchan-owned side and its players through the 2019 season; the franchise went on to add a second title in 2022.

What size is the men's court in international kabaddi, women playing on a smaller 12-by-8 version?

13 m by 10 m is the men's court, and a raider must cross the baulk marking inside it and get home untouched, or tag a defender first, for the trip to count.

Which divided region's two governments run the circle-style Kabaddi World Cup, contested since 2010?

Punjab's governments on both sides of the border administer the event jointly, and its opening and closing ceremonies feature Punjabi artists from each country.

World Kabaddi, founded in 2018 with over 50 member nations, marks which date as 'World Kabaddi Day'?

24 March 2018 is the federation's founding date, and its presidency passed at the end of 2024 from Ashok Das to Egypt's Osama Said.

Which traditional circle-code style fields 15 a side on a pitch with no outer limit and no referee?

Lambi kauddi lets the raider run as far as he can while chanting 'kauddi, kauddi', while its cousin saunchi kauddi allows strikes only to the chest, like boxing.

Which Asian Games' kabaddi tournament is credited with inspiring the creation of the Pro Kabaddi League?

2006 Doha's five-team event at Aspire Hall 4 ended with India taking gold, and the league that followed in 2014 charged franchises up to US$250,000 each to join.