Kabaddi: Top 3 countries in Kabbadi by International Kabaddi Federation (IKF)

and is also a part of multinational big shot tournaments like the Asian Games, Junior Kabaddi World Cup, Asian Kabaddi Championship, Kabaddi Masters, European Kabaddi Championship and also the Pro Kabaddi League. The sport, which stands as Bangladesh's national game is basically played between two teams comprising seven players each. Every player can either be a raider, defender or all-rounder. Points are determined after every match using a formula - 10*(total number of kabaddi nations – (rank of the opponent)+(score difference). The rankings are declared by the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF).

 

Top Three IKF Rankings

 

Rank	Team	Points
1.	India	7127.6
2.	Iran	5674.4
3.	Pakistan	4325.04

India

The Kabaddi World Cup has been held three times in the years 2004, 2007 and 2016 and India has asserted their dominance by winning the cup each time. Similarly, they never failed to perform even in Asian Games that have been hosting Kabaddi since 1990. They have participated in four Asian Games and won gold in all of them. However, they couldn't clinch the gold medal in the 2018 Jakarta Games. The second Kabaddi World Cup tournament took place in 2007 with India beating Iran in the final round. In the Circle Style 2010 Kabaddi World Cup organized by Punjab, the Indian team emerged victorious after beating Pakistan in the finals. An Indian tournament known as the Pro Kabaddi league was introduced in 2014 which is the Kabaddi equivalent of the Indian Premier League.

Iran

When the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou commenced, another country came into the picture as top contenders. Iran slowly established their dominance over the game and won the silver at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games. In addition, they also won the 2016 World Cup, giving India tough competition in the final match which marked the latter's first World Cup loss. The West Asian country is reputed to have the best defenses in world kabaddi. Experts think that they could beat India if they work on their raids and defence. The sport reportedly became professional in the country only 21 years ago when a national federation was placed. The second most successful team in Kabaddi have been runners up at every event.

Pakistan

Since it is a native sport of Punjab, Kabaddi was a famous sport in all rural parts of Pakistan. It is widely played in South Asia with great enthusiasm in both East and West Punjab too. Asian style Kabaddi is the accepted form in Pakistan and even in other parts of South Asia which is why it is featured in the South-East Asian Games. The Pakistan Kabaddi Federation came into existence in 1964 and the first national level Kabaddi tournament was played in 1966. The Pakistani team has performed exceptionally well in international tournaments especially the Asian Games where they have won medals every season albeit never a gold medal. They have also won medals in the South Asian Games and a bronze medal in the 2011 World Cup.