Pro Kabaddi League: A televised spectacle capturing the heart of India
For
the uninitiated, kabaddi, the ancient Indian game that is taking the world’s
second-most populous country by storm, looks far too simple to be a
professional sport.
A
hybrid of rugby, touch football and the playground game known in England as
British Bulldog and in the United States as Red Rover (“Red rover, red rover,
let Tommy come over...”), kabaddi (pronounced kuh-bud-DEE) uses no balls,
pucks, nets, goal posts, hoops, holes, rackets, clubs, sticks or bats. It is so
unknown in the West that on August 8, 2017, ESPNU, the American digital cable
and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., showcased what it
termed “the finest in seldom seen sports,” including the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup
Final. An exhibition match was played at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, but it did
not catch on internationally.
Now,
with the establishment in 2014 of the Pro
Kabaddi League (PKL) and television coverage, as the league’s sixth
season is set to begin on Sunday, the sport has captured Indians’ hearts, souls
and TV remotes. Its popularity as a spectator sport is now second only to the
British import cricket, which Indians still worship with near religious fervor.
Last year some 313 million TV viewers watched league matches, according to
Indian TV viewership surveys. Read
Complete Article
Comments
Post a Comment