Has Pro Kabaddi League benefitted countries other than India?

Kabaddi was a popular sport in the rural landscape of India, but with the coming of the Pro Kabaddi League, it has gone pro. Years following the launch of the League, the sport gained immense popularity throughout India and attracted considerable clout of global players and an international audience.

The League infused much-needed glamour and money into this sport and made it a sensation. Apart from benefiting uncapped Indian players in the same way as the Indian Premier League did, it also brought transformation and expertise to other Kabaddi playing nations. 

In Kabaddi, Indians have maintained an unshakable dominance throughout history, winning almost everything. But with the coming of the League and foreign players participating in the League, the other countries are catching up quickly. They are learning the best techniques, temperament and overall culture of the game and rapidly upgrading their skillset with these.

On this topic, Patna Pirates captain Manpreet Singh commented, “Players from Iran, Korea -who are part of our teams in Pro Kabaddi League -practice with us. They see and learn how we strategise and plan. They then apply it when representing their countries at international tournaments. So, naturally, the competition has increased”.

Legendary Indian player and captain Anup Kumar also said, “Earlier, we used to win competitions without facing much threat from the opposition. But, in the past two years, things have changed. Now we have to fight hard.” This is evident in the last world cup when India lost a match to Iran in the group stages and in the previous Asian Games, where India managed to prevail over Iran only in the last minutes of the game.

“PKL has given Iranian players an opportunity to improve their calibre. Players get to practice in camps with the best in the business and also compete in the League for months. Also, following a proper diet and fitness regime has helped them immensely,” said Mazandarani, who became the first international coach in Pro Kabaddi League when he took up the job for U Mumba. The increasing calibre of international players can be gauged by the steadily increasing numbers of foreign players in the League, and some of them are even made captains.

It is not only about the players learning the skill set and techniques from participating in the League, but the competing countries also started employing Indian coaches to get into the game better. Manpreet said, “A few countries have requested the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India to provide the coaches and the federation has sent some of our coaches.“